After Friendship
by Sione
Summary: Jak loves Daxter and Daxter loves Jak, in a friendly way, right? After being sent on a mission were things goes out of hand, their perspectives starts to change. Maybe there’s more than just friendship? JakxDaxter human in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_You guys really made me all warm and fuzzy inside with the reception of my __last story. Although it has the least amount of hits it still has twice as many favs as my second most faved piece "A Love Unknown" and it has the most amounts of reviews. I don't care much about the numbers but I do care about all the lovely reviews I got, so thank you! It's been a pleasure to read your thoughts. _

_Well anyway since it was kind of fun to write a Jak & Daxter fiction and people seem to like it, I decided to give it another try. I can't promise it will be any good but I will try. I know it's a lame title and a lame summary but it's kind of hard to come up with anything good to a story that only has one chapter so far. I might change it later, we'll see. _

_I had a new beta for this one. I thought it could be appropriate to have a beta who are interested in these kinds of stories and who actually knows who the characters are.__ :) So a big thank you to __sillynekorobs, make sure to read her great story "Talk to me"!_

Title: After friendship

Author: Sione

Pairing: Jak/Daxter

Disclaimer: I own nothing, the characters belongs to Naughty Dog

Notes: This is eventually going to be a JakxDaxter (human) story. Please spare me any comments about the pairing, you don't have to like it but you don't have to read this story either.

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"I don't like this."

Jak could almost feel Daxter gripping the shoulder plate he was crouched on just a little bit tighter. The ottsel had been scanning the area suspiciously ever since they left the zoomer, while he of course was keeping up with his usual chatter.

They were outside Haven city to investigate some sort of cave. Torn had heard rumours about eco and there had been metal head activities spotted in the area. Jak was a bit sceptical about the eco rumours. He didn't think it would be much to see, a big cave and maybe a few metal heads to take out, but it should be a pretty uneventful mission.

Daxter didn't seem to agree.

"I'm telling you there's something creepy about this place, my ottsel senses are tingling like crazy. You can always trust the ottsel sense. If Torn is so damn interested in this place then why doesn't he check it out himself?"

"You know, we wouldn't get paid if we never actually went on the missions Dax. Think positive, at least it's not the sewers."

He knew Daxter hated that place. It was almost impossible for him to get his fur clean after being down there. And let's not talk about the stench. It was bad for Jak but for Daxter's sensitive nose it was hell. But even though he had suggested it on many occasions, Daxter refused to stay at the headquarters.

And here they were once again on one of their many missions that his friend had insisted on joining. The vast landscape surrounding them now maybe was "a big mood killer", as Daxter expressed it, but at least it didn't stink and it was fairly clean. Definitely an improvement according to Jak. Besides it was nice to get out of the city once in awhile.

"We just need to get this done." He reached up and scratched the frustrated ottsel behind his ear. "It's probably just a few metal heads then we are out of here, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah big guy but you'd better keep us alive." Daxter crossed his arms. "We're always doing Tattooed Wonder's dirty work," he muttered to himself.

"Hey, I thought you liked taking out a few metal heads," he said in attempt to lighten the mood. Jak was well aware of the fact that Daxter never really liked the missions even though he made sure to brag about them at the bar afterwards. Well, Tess did make an awful excited crowd.

"I guess, but this place just gives me the creeps. Are we even sure something is out here anyway? This seems like a strange place to be storing eco."

"I don't know but I think I'm sensing something."

"Yeah, there's definitely something strange about this place, that's for sure."

Jak took the ottsel's complaining with ease, this was just the usual ritual on their missions. Daxter complained, Jak reassured him and got the work done so they could go back home. Then Daxter could brag about it later.

But he was starting to feel a bit more apprehensive about the place when standing in front of the big black opening of the cave. A gush of cold air hit his face and blew a couple of loose strands of golden hair into his face. He must agree with Daxter, he was sensing something. Jak grasped his morph gun just a bit tighter when he entered the cave.

The cavern turned out to be bigger then he had first thought. But it was hard to determine just how big since darkness closed in around them as soon as he got a couple of steps in. He wouldn't say it to the already nervous ottsel but he wasn't so sure that he liked this mission so much anymore either. He could feel the essence of eco in the air and it unnerved him. A few metal heads he could handle, but this was something else.

He dug out of a flashlight from his backpack and let its light spread over the damp walls of the cavern but he still couldn't see an end to it. He handed the flashlight to Daxter so he could have both hands free as he ventured deeper into the darkness.

"I don't like this Jak," Daxter whined once again. Jak only nodded in reply. His senses were on high alert and he was listening intensely while trying to make out any movements in the dark. It wasn't an easy task in the weak light the flashlight offered.

"Shouldn't we call for back-up or something; we don't know what's in here."

"That's the point of us being here Dax, we're going to check it out."

The ottsel muttered something more that Jak didn't register. He was looking perplexed ahead of them. He wasn't sure if his eyes were fooled but he thought he had spotted light ahead of them. He squinted his eyes, there was definitely some kind of light in front of them.

"Oh look, they do have some light in this place," Daxter exclaimed when he also spotted it.

Their path soon widened and they entered a large dimly lit room. The roof of the cave raised high above their heads and small holes in it brought down some of the outside's burning sunlight in form of shining beams that hit the slippery cave floor. Jak took the now unnecessary flashlight from Daxter who was still struggling with the big thing in his small paws.

"Hey, it looks like the metal heads have got themselves a cosy little den in here."

Jak snorted in reply. Maybe cosy for a metal head but he wouldn't define this chilly and damp place as cosy, but at least it was spacious. Though he still couldn't be sure if this in fact was a metal head den. They hadn't met a single one of them yet which seemed odd to him, especially if this was supposed to be some sort of gathering place for them.

"I'm not sure if that is what it is. Just look at these markings." He leaned forward to study the strange symbols he had noticed covering the stonewalls. They seemed to be some sort of geometrical forms. "I don't really think metal heads would be painting on the walls."

"Psssh not likely, the day I see a metal head paint will be the day I see Torn in lace trimmed panties. C'mon, let's explore!" Daxter exclaimed and before Jak could stop him, his little ottsel friend had jumped of his shoulder.

"Stick close, and don't go too far ahead," he hissed. "We still don't know what's in here."

"Yeah, yeah, don't sweat it big guy, I'm right here." Daxter waved him off as he went to study one of the walls with the strange markings.

Jak mused over the fact that he suddenly had become the anxious one while Daxter seemed to be comforted by the fact that no metal heads had showed up so far. But he wasn't ready to put his guard down just yet. So with a still steady grip on his gun he started to explore the strange room while still making sure to keep close to Daxter.

He always felt a bit unnerved during their missions if he didn't feel the reassuring weight on his shoulder that told him that Dax was safe. Usually it wasn't a problem; Daxter was in most cases glued to his shoulder during their missions. But from time to time, he would chose to do a little exploring on his own. Jak would rather have him safe on his shoulder but didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't force his buddy to stay put on his shoulder all the time.

A small yelp from behind quickly brought him out of his thoughts. He raised his gun as he turned around but lowered it instantly when he saw what predicament Daxter had gotten himself into. A smug smile spread across his face.

"Eww, what is this stuff?" Jak watched Daxter fighting his way on to his feet again while trying to shake off some green slimy goo that he had slipped in. He wasn't very successful.

"Damn, I showered this morning, now my fur is all disgusting and full of metal head drool." He carefully sniffed himself and made a face. "That's disgusting, I even smell like a metal head. You know it's harder than you think to get this coat clean and in perfection. This mission officially sucks."

Jak couldn't help but to think the whole thing was rather amusing. "Maybe you should have stayed on my shoulder," he advised and got a glare in return. He dug out an old rag from the backpack which admittedly wasn't very clean but at least better than nothing and handed it to Daxter. "Here."

Daxter muttered a thanks before he started to rub furiously over the lower half of his body until he was satisfied with the result. He still looked rather messy but he had at least got most of the sludge off him.

"So what do you think this place is anyway?"

"I'm not sure, but it looks like it has been inhabited by metal heads at least at some point." Jak ran his gloved hand over one of the marked walls. "But with all these marking it looks like some old Precursor place."

"Who knows, those guys seemed to have been everywhere."

As they ventured deeper in to the spacious cave, Jak noticed opening in the surrounding walls and it seemed like tunnels of different sizes were connected to this larger part of the cave. He pointed it out to Daxter.

"I don't think this is the end of the cave. If you follow one of these tunnels I'll bet you could go even deeper."

"That sounds like fun," Daxter answered sarcastically. The little ottsel was busy climbing a high rock formation that was standing dangerously close to a big dark hole in the cave floor. Daxter was a pretty good climber but Jak still didn't like to see him being so close to a suspicious looking hole.

And he especially didn't like to see him leaning over it.

"Dax, get down from there!"

"Chill buddy, I'm just checking. I think I saw a light or something down there, maybe it's eco stuff."

Jak went to join him to both have a look and to make sure Daxter didn't end up falling in. But just then a clicking sound had him on high alert. He froze and tried to determine the direction of the sound.

"Jak?" Daxter must have noticed his tense posture and he worriedly looked at him. Jak shushed him and took his gun in a steady two-hand grip.

There it was again, it was coming from one of the adjoining tunnels. Daxter seemed to have heard it too because in the corner of his eye Jak saw his ears perk up. They soon got the explanation for the mysterious sound when a metal head appeared from one of the adjoining tunnels. It wasn't a very big one Jak noted, but it definitely had its goal set and ran directly towards him.

He raised his gun and fired.

The shot went right through its head and it immediately dropped dead on the ground. However it was soon followed by three more which jumped over their dead companion. 'So that's where they have been hiding,' Jak thought grimly.

He shot at the first one in line and it went down with a shriek before he looked back at the rock where he last saw Daxter, who surprisingly enough seemed to have become unusually quiet. He saw that the ottsel was making his way down from the high rock to join him. That didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. The rock was definitely a safer place for him to be on right now, a hole in the floor seemed a lot less dangerous than two vicious metal heads.

"Damnit Daxter, get back on the rock and stay there!" He shouted at the same time as he dodged a big metal head paw. The remaining two metal heads were definitely a lot bigger than the first one. And they were fast, very fast.

The short moment of inattention resulted in him being tackled to the ground by the metal head he had being trying to dodge. He groaned in pain when the heavy bulk of the metal head pressed the air out of his lungs. In the background he heard Daxter screaming his name. Luckily he still had a steady grip on his gun. He took it in both hands and jammed the broadside against the throat of the creature which got the dangerous looking teeth at a more safe distance from his face.

"Daxter just stay on the rock," he panted out between breaths but he had no idea if he was actually still there.

He hissed when the metal head managed to slash his arm and he felt the moisture of blood but the pain quickly faded. After a moment of struggle he managed to get a foot under the metal head's stomach and with a hard kick pushed it of him. He ignored his arm that now burned painfully and he quickly got to his feet. Before it had time to counter attack he aimed at it. Unfortunately it was too quick to move away and all he managed to hit was its leg which made it screech in anger and pain.

At least it gave him a moment of respite and finally he spotted Daxter again. He was still on the rock but the other metal head was doing a good job at trying to getting him down from there. It was swinging one of its heavy paws with dangerous sharp claws at the ottsel. Daxter tried to back away from the blows but the rock didn't offer much space to do so. Jak knew it would only take one hit by those powerful paws to either send Daxter tumbling down the black hole or to the cave floor were he quickly would be crushed by the metal head's paw or jaws.

Jak didn't like any of the alternatives.

He raised his gun and shot. But he missed the creature by a couple of inches when he was jostled by the injured metal head who decided to attack him again. He was tackled to the ground and this time the gun flew out his hand when he made a second visit to the cold hard floor. He grunted as his shoulder painfully met the hard stone surface. When coming over the first sensation of pain he growled, angry at missing his target.

A faint cry of his name reached his ears then a scream.

Daxter.

He struggled wildly against the heavy creature on top of him. He needed to get up now. He felt the dark eco building up in him along with his anger. Daxter was in danger, he had to save him and this damn metal head was in his way.

It was going to die.

With a roar he let the dark eco take control over him and he hardly noticed the pain when the horn grew out from his skull. It didn't matter, pain was a trivial thing. When his black claws emerged Jak slashed them through the throat of the metal head on top of him. Blood poured down on him but he didn't even notice it.

That was when he heard another shrill scream echo in the cave. This time it was full of pain.

Filled with dread Jak pushed the limp body off him. He felt that the dark eco was already starting to retreat from his system. The burning anger it fed from was giving away to cold fear. His breath was ragged and he now felt that his arm throbbed even more painfully than before. A raw scream left his lips when the horn grew back into his head. His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he got to his feet and spotted the last metal head alive. It was still standing by the rock formation staring down the black hole but there was no Daxter. It turned its ugly head towards him and seemed to decide he could replace its lost prey.

Jak didn't think he had enough dark eco to kill it with his bare hands even if it was tempting. He could feel that his claws were already retreating so with fumbling motion he grabbed his gun from the floor and shot it before it even got a chance to attack. He stared numbly at it for a moment as it slid to the floor. The complete silence that followed was deafening.

He shook his head to bring himself out of his daze. Daxter, he needed to find Daxter.

'Since I didn't find any limp ottsel body he must have fell down the hole, right?' He tried to ignore the horrible thought that he actually could have been eaten by the metal head. He fell on his knees and peered down the big opening in the ground. He wished he could tell how deep it was.

"Daxter, Daxter!" he shouted but his echo was the only answer he got.

'He can't be dead, he just can't be.' Jak thought with rising horror. He heard him scream after all, that must mean he's alive. He must be down there, maybe he's just unconscious.

He needed a rope.

Daxter groaned when his conscious slowly returned to him. He knew this mission had been a bad idea from the start, it was just bound to go wrong. To fall down a mysterious big black hole was not his idea of a fun time after all. And let's not forget the big metal head paw that hit him in the chest and made him loose his balance in the first place. His ribs stilled ached from that blow, but that was definitely not the only thing that ached, he noticed.

Come to think about it, shouldn't he be dead? The memories were still a bit fuzzy but he tried to make some sense to the situation. He remembered that he fell but not for very long. Then he hit stone, it must have been a protruding shelf and it had hurt like hell. Soft ottsel body was not meant for making violent contact with hard stone, it just wasn't a good combination.

He could feel that he was still lying on cold stone but he knew that he wasn't on the shelf anymore. Before he had time to recover from the fall he was already rolling of it. But after that it got really fuzzy. He fell once more but for a much longer time than the first time. He remembered pain, he thought he must have screamed. But it was not the same pain as when he hit the stone shelf. He didn't think he landed on anything hard at all actually, but it burned and it was almost just as unpleasant as hitting the stone floor only in a different way.

Maybe he fell down in a sea of nettles but could nettles grow in caves? Whatever it was it must at least have dampened his fall since he was still alive even if he didn't feel so great at the moment. He was cold and every damn part of his body ached, this really wasn't his day.

Where was Jak by the way?

Jak!

Reality slammed in on Daxter and it was the thought of his big buddy that finally made him force his eyes open. The last time he saw him he had a big ugly looking metal head on top of him. That alarming thought made him momentarily forget about his miserable state and he tried to sit up.

"Try" was definitely the right definition for it because it wasn't a very successful attempt.

"What the…" He muttered and rolled over to his stomach so he could use all four paws to get to his feet.

The only problem was that he didn't have any paws.

Daxter's eyes widened when he stared down at two pale and very hairless hands lying in front of him on the cold ground. He raised himself up on his elbows and held out his hands in the faint light. He shakily flexed his fingers while drawing in a ragged breath. Hands, nice soft hands and not small hairy paws.

'This is a dream, I hit my head too hard, didn't I?' He pinched his arm.

"Oww, that hurt!"

"Daxter, are you down there?!"

His head snapped up so fast at the familiar voice that he heard his neck crack painfully.

"Jak!" He cried out happily.

Of course a few metal head couldn't take out his Jak. He should never have doubted the big guy.

"Are you ok?"

He looked down at what he now saw was his naked body, well that would explain why he felt so cold. "Ehh, kind of..."

"I'm on my way down, just stay where you are."

"Yeah, like I could go anywhere," he muttered.

TBC

_Reviews are always encouraging! I'll try to get the next chapter out pretty soon._


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm so sorry to keep you waiting__ for this, I blame school! So now that we know who the bad guy is, lets get on with the story. :) This chapter gave me such a hard time, I had to re-write some stuff and I'm still not entirely pleased with it but it feels better now at least. I hope you will not hate it too much. _

_Before we begin I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review on the first chapter. It's what writers live on and you don't want to see me starved, eh? So please keep on reviewing. :)_

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Daxter struggled up into a sitting position but still felt strangely light-headed and swayed slightly in his position. He blinked dazedly a couple of times and for the first time since he ended up in his miserable position got a chance to look around him. Not that it was much to see, it was still a damp boring cave in his opinion. The only thing that caught his attention was the strange light ahead of him that broke the compact darkness and offered a pale sickly illumination.

"Daxter?" The voice was followed by the thump of Jak's boots hitting the cave floor.

The red-head quickly turned his attention towards the sound.

"I'm right here, buddy."

He squinted in the dim light and managed to make out a dark form coming towards him. Daxter never thought the sight of his big buddy could make him feel so relieved. He knew Jak was ok since he already heard him but it was a different thing to actually see it. He quickly positioned himself in a cross-legged position which was a pathetic attempt at covering his…ehm…private parts. Of course he had wanted to become human and yes he was excited to show off his new perfect body to the world but definitely not to this degree! Besides, he didn't think he would be able strut his stuff very gracefully at the moment. He could hardly stand much less doing anything else. Right now he just wanted to get out of this creepy place.

"Jak." It came out as a pathetic whisper and he felt his throat constrict when he finally could make out the sight of the hero's face. 'I'm such a big wuss,' he thought irritably and tried to swallow the lump that was forming.

But he couldn't help but smile when he got a better look at Jak's expression. In any other situation he probably would have burst out laughing. A gaping fish described it pretty well. He had stopped dead in his track and was opening and closing his mouth in a rather comical way. Like he wanted to speak but couldn't find the words. Daxter could sympathize with him; for a change he felt strangely out of words too.

"Dax," Jak finally managed to croak out. "You're human."

"Yeah, baby!" Dax said with a huge grin "I kind of already noticed that little fact." He fully enjoyed the amazed face of Jak.

If there was someone he wanted to share his first moments as a human with, it was Jak. Although the picture he had in mind had looked a lot different. Definitely him in a less naked state and with a nicer backdrop. But this moment was too good to pass up: he could forget about being cold, and hurting for awhile. Heck, he could even forget being naked.

Jak surprised him by dropping to his knees and abruptly gathering him in a crushing hug. He squeaked in surprise when he fell forward into the firm chest. After the initial shock at suddenly being pulled against Jak's larger frame, he snaked his arms around the hero's neck and hugged him back tightly. The body heat that was radiating from Jak went straight into his skin and comfortably warmed his frozen body. Out of habit he deeply inhaled the sent that was so special for Jak. He could still feel it even if it was a lot duller compared to what his ottsel nose usually would pick up.

A calloused hand found its way into his hair and softly stroked through his long red and golden tresses. "I thought I lost you," Jak murmured and the warm breath in his ear made Daxter's insides tingle.

"Hey, you know it takes a lot more than that to get rid of me. Don't go soft on me, big guy," he said and playfully tugged at one of Jak's locks of hair.

He was carefully pushed back by the shoulders and Jak looked searching at him. "What happened, are you hurt?"

"I don't know…" he started uncertainly.

It was kind of strange, really; logically he should have some broken bones or at least some enormous bruises after that fall. He knew he had hit a stone shelf on the way down. He felt awful but he couldn't feel any serious injuries. He just ached and he felt entirely drained of energy.

"I feel like shit but I don't think I'm injured. And how this transforming thing happened, I have no idea."

Jak looked sceptical.

"Are you sure you're ok? It was a long fall."

"Yeah, I know it's strange. I can't explain it but I just feel drained."

"Ok, well you don't look injured at least. Let's get out of here, and we can discuss this later."

'So being turned back into a human can be described as "this"!' Daxter thought in a huff. Though, Jak did have a point. He was cold, and if they didn't get out of there soon he was pretty sure he would end up falling asleep on the cave floor. His eyelids felt like they had small weights attached to them already. He forced his eyes open and found that Jak was starring at him intensely with a strange expression on his face.

"Wha—" he started to say.

He winced when the blond suddenly shot forward and grabbed his arm, in a firm but gentle grip.

"What the?!" he squeaked. "Scare me to death will you!"

Jak just ignored him and with a frown held out Daxter pale arm into the light.

"Dax, your arm. Look at it."

The red-head looked down and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of small droplets of glowing light eco that still lingered on his forearm.

"Is that…?"

"Light eco." Jak confirmed. He carefully touched it with his index finger and it dissolved into the darkness.

"Wow," Daxter breathed out.

"A reversal to the dark eco you fell in. It would make sense." Jak said thoughtfully. "That explains why you're human again."

"I don't care about the equation, but I'm definitely digging the result!" Daxter grinned, and then frowned thoughtfully. So that's why it burned. Now when he thought about it, it had felt just the same when he fell into the dark eco. He should have made that connection earlier.

"So where is this light eco?" Daxter wondered with a frown. But just as he said it he remembered the light he had spotted just before Jak found him. He looked over his shoulder and Jak followed his gaze to the pool of light that was situated not very far from them but which they both had been too preoccupied to truly notice before. Their eyes met in understanding.

"Well, I'll be damned. Torn will love you for this Jak. Only for about a day or two of course, but still."

Jak on the other hand didn't seem too excited.

"Right, we did what we came for, we're out of here," he said grimly while placing his backpack on the ground.

"Well, don't piss your pants Jak. You know, you could at least try to be a bit more excited."

Jak looked up surprised then a small smile spread across his face. He returned to his task at removing his armour and placing it in the backpack.

"I'm excited Dax," he said softly. "But not because we found some light eco for Torn. I don't give a shit about that." He steadily met Daxter gaze before he continued. "All I care about is that you're back to normal and now I want to get you home safely, that's all that matter."

"Get _us _home safely Jak, don't forget that." That damn tough guy never thought about himself, he was lucky Daxter was there to do it for him.

"Right, us then," Jak agreed.

"Ok, so…ehm, how do we do this?" Daxter embarrassedly gestured at his nakedness and hoped that the dim light wasn't enough to reveal his blush.

So the fact of being naked in front of his friend maybe wasn't news since technically he had been naked the whole time as an ottsel. But still, at least he had fur then! It's amazing what difference a little fur could make. He shivered in the cold wind, it was also amazing what a little fur could do to preserve the body heat. He wrapped his arms around himself and watched Jak placing the last bit of armour in the backpack. He started to pull off his tunic.

"What are you doing?" he asked slightly alarmed.

"You can't go around naked so I guess we just have to share the clothes we have," Jak answered calmly.

'Eh, come again?'

When the tunic went over Jak's head it offered Daxter a perfect view of his chest and in the red-heads opinion very nicely sculpted muscles. They were clearly visible but without being too bulky.

'Why I'm staring at my best friend's naked chest and WHY on earth I'm thinking of its structure?!' He thought horrified and quickly averted his gaze to the ground with blushing cheeks.

"Daxter?"

"Yeah," he squeaked and saw that Jak was holding out the tunic for him. "Oh, thanks," he mumbled and grabbed the piece of clothes with fumbling hands. That's when he noticed that Jak's right arm was wrapped up in his red scarf.

"What happened to your arm?"

"What?" He looked confused for a moment before looking down at his arm. "Oh that, one of the metal heads got a hit. It's fine now."

"You're sure?" His voice was slightly muffled by the tunic he was trying to pull over his head. "Where's the hole in this damn thing," he muttered.

"You're totally hopeless Dax," Jak chuckled. "I guess it's been awhile since you wore any clothes."

His hands were swatted away and a sharp tug made his head finally pop out from the mass of uncooperative cloth.

"Thanks," he said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

The tunic looked huge on him but he couldn't complain. It warmed him immediately and the best part was that it reached down to his thighs so it covered him fairly well. He picked thoughtfully at some stains on the dark-blue fabric that looked suspiciously like blood-spatter, he looked questionably at Jak.

"It's not mine," Jak reassured him. "We've lingered here long enough, come on."

Jak got to his feet and heaved Daxter up in a standing position in the process. The sudden change of position made his head swim and he stumbled forward into Jak.

Once again Daxter found himself staring at his best friend's bare chest. Not just staring actually, practically pressed against it too.

'Eeek!'

He grabbed hold of Jak's shoulders to steady himself and he felt two big hands, which could almost encircle his waist, being placed on his hips. Daxter breathed out a shaky breath; this was just too much close contact for one day. He awkwardly glanced up at Jak who was looking at him with an odd expression. Both seemed to be frozen in place for a way too long and awkward moment in Daxter's opinion.

He cleared his throat. "Heh…oops."

That seemed to break the spell and Jak's slightly wide-eyed stare disappeared immediately and he was quickly pushed back on to his feet again.

"Yeah right, let's go." Jak grunted out and heaved the pack up on his back.

Daxter nodded silently.

The stonewall that stretched high above them was not a very encouraging site Daxter concluded. He followed it to the top with a growing frown; he didn't like the look of it one bit. He glanced questioningly at Jak.

"So how exactly do we get up?"

"We climb." Jak tugged experimentally at a thick rope Daxter now saw was hanging down from the top. He didn't feel more optimistic by that answer. Jak must have seen his slightly disbelieving face. "Or rather I climb, then I can pull you up." He started to tie a loop with the end of the rope.

"I guess these things were a bit easier when I was an ottsel, huh?" He glanced at Jak and then absentmindedly pulled at the way too short tunic. He jumped slightly when a warm hand landed on his neck.

He looked up and saw Jak smiling one of his rare smiles.

"Don't worry, it's well worth the trouble."

He swatted the heavy hand away with a grin. "If you say so buddy, but don't come complaining to me when you miss Orange Lightning."

Jak quickly climbed the rope with little effort, even though Daxter heard him groan a couple of times and he wondered how "fine" his arm really was. His own journey to the top wasn't exactly what he would call comfortable. The rope fitted securely under his armpits but it chafed uncomfortably. He felt like an old rag doll dangling helplessly from the rope that could in a second be dropped and he would fall right back down to the ground. But at least the only one he truly trusted was holding the other end of the rope and that calmed him some. He dared a glance down to the ground below him, which he quickly discovered to be a bad idea. The thought of falling down a second time made his heartbeat raise a notch and he clutched the rope in his hands even tighter. 'Please don't let me die before I get a chance to enjoy my new body,' he prayed silently.

Luckily he didn't die and got to the top safely. He fumbled for something to hold onto, desperate to get some solid ground under his feet. He got hold of a protruding rock in the ground but he felt his strength failing him and would probably had fallen right back down without the helping hands of Jak. With a heavy grunt he ungracefully crawled over the edge. He panted slightly when he was helped to his feet.

"Well, hasn't this mission just been tons of fun?" he said with a weak smile. Jak just snorted in reply.

He looked around him but blinked confused a couple of times when his eyes refused to focus. His surroundings started to become blurry and he fumbled for something to hold onto. He found a broad shoulder.

"Daxter?" he heard Jak ask worriedly but it sounded strangely far away.

He squinted and tried to focus on the face of his friend but instead it just got blurrier. His legs suddenly went weak beneath him. He felt himself falling, but before he could crash to the ground gentle hands caught him. He felt oddly warm and secure for a moment before everything went dark.

TBC

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_Muhahaha, evil cliffhanger! Sorry, I will __try to hurry up with chapter three. Please review! _


	3. Chapter 3

_My email seemed to be totally against __submitting this chapter since it decided to die on me before I heard back from my beta, but here it is against all odds! I'll bet you didn't think I would update this quickly, me neither actually. XD __I got some encouraging reviews both here and on AFF so that helped to inspire me, thanks! _

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Jak sighed and rubbed his aching forehead. It had certainly been a trying day, to say the least. He was relieved to finally be back at the familiar surroundings of the headquarter. He was even more relieved that he had been able to get to their rooms without running into someone. He just wasn't up to that kind of excitement right now.

After Daxter had passed out he had hurriedly carried him back to the zoomer and was lucky enough to not run into anymore metal heads on the way. He had been painfully aware of what a perfect walking target he was with his hands full of an unconscious elf.

Daxter's sudden collapse had of course worried him at first, and he thought his heart must have stopped for a second when seeing him fall to the ground. But he soon discovered that the scrawny little elf was ok. Exhausted and a bit sore, but nothing that a good night's sleep wouldn't take care of. The light eco seemed to have brought his body back exactly to its original state, which meant any injuries he might have obtained in the fall had been healed. Even that nasty old scar on his left leg that the ottsel had gotten from a metal head claw about a year ago was now gone. He wondered just how badly hurt Daxter would have been if he had not ended up in a pit of white eco. He probably wouldn't be alive at all. An option he rather avoided thinking about. Jak was most grateful that Daxter hadn't been awake for the examination he hastily had done with blushing cheeks. There was something very different about looking over your ottsel buddy for injuries and examining your almost naked human friend.

Back at the zoomer he had carefully placed Daxter in the passenger seat and, to his relief, found an old blanket to cover him with. His tunic hadn't really covered very much of the naked elf. Daxter continued to stay unconscious, and except for a small groan at a particular violent jostle when Jak hit a bump in the ground, he stayed still and quiet which made the ride home a silent affair. That had given the hero some well-needed time to think things through. The day's events had been quite overwhelming. First he had almost lost the ottsel, and then instead of finding his still body as he had feared, he had found a very much alive human Daxter. After all this time his wish to bring his friend back to normal had come true. That itself was just purely amazing. And now he could finally let his guard down and enjoy that wonderful fact.

He leaned forward in his seat and stroked an unruly tress of hair away from the pale face of the elf lying tucked into their bed in a deep sleep. Daxter's mouth was slightly ajar and showed a hint of his protruding buck teeth. Jak smiled when a wheezing snore left his lips; he hadn't heard that sound in a long time. As an ottsel, Daxter was a silent sleeper. He hadn't realised just how much he missed those little sounds Daxter used to make in Sandover when he was still human. He would enjoy re-remembering little things like that. Though, he was at some level going to miss Daxter's ottsel habits.

He knew he had to report to Torn soon, but it could wait for a while longer. Selfishly he wanted the moment to last awhile longer. That's why he had preferred to sneak into their room without anyone noticing them. It would probably cause quite a commotion when Daxter suddenly showed up as a scrawny elf. Everybody at headquarters had never seen him as anything else than an ottsel, and most people even doubted Daxter when he told them that he had been a human once. Now he would finally be able to prove them wrong. Jak smiled, Daxter would have a glorious time when he woke up. And he was going to enjoy seeing him bask in the attention

The only problem now was that he was so used to having his friend as a fuzzy little animal and carrying Daxter in his arms back to the headquarters made it very clear that he was anything but anymore. He wondered what would happen now; should they just continue as usual? Well, that wasn't really an option because he couldn't of course carry him around on his shoulder anymore.

Then there was these strange feelings he was having. He looked down at the slightly rounded face of his friend, the slim neck and the hint of collarbone that lay naked where the blanket had slipped away. He was beautiful, in his own special way. Nobody could really call Daxter a classic beauty but there was something about him. He was still wearing Jak's over-sized tunic and in the blonde's opinion he looked adorable small and cute in it. With heated cheeks he looked away. Was it appropriate to think your best friend looked cute in your clothes? He doubted it.

He didn't remember feeling this way when Daxter was human the last time. It felt awkward and strange. With embarrassment he remembered his earlier behaviour when Daxter stumbled into him. His mind had gone blank and he had just stared. Having the petite elf pressed against him had felt strangely nice. He didn't know what to think of the situation but it must have been his hormones running loose or something. He hoped that he could avoid any further embarrassment in the future. This was certainly not the time to act like some horny teenager towards his newly returned childhood friend.

He kneaded his still slightly acing arm, which was pretty much healed and well again. He had used a small amount of the green eco they had stored in their room for minor injuries. With a sigh he got up from his chair. Daxter would probably be sleeping for awhile longer so he might of well get something done while he waited. First off he should report back about their mission, to avoid a cranky Torn later. He would definitely be interested in the light eco. And it probably would be wise to mention that Daxter wasn't looking entirely like himself anymore. He knew Dax would have loved the chance to surprise Tattooed Wonder himself but if Jak knew one thing about Torn, it was that he didn't like surprises. His stomach suddenly growled loudly; maybe some food wouldn't be such a bad idea either.

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The first thing Daxter's brain registered when he woke up was the wonderful feeling of being warm and lying on something soft. He stretched lazily and burrowed himself deeper into the wonderful smooth beddings with a groan of appreciation. He was in heaven.

When his brain slowly started to catch up with him he registered that he was not lying on his regular sleeping place, which was usually the pillow or Jak's chest. A big grin spread across his face when he remembered why, he wouldn't fit on any of those places anymore. He was human again. God that felt good to say, it was worth repeating. He slowly opened his eyes and peeked out from under the covers, but quickly retreated to his dark cocoon when the blinding light hit him. He laid there in the darkness for awhile just listening to the silence of the room. He wondered where Jak was. He wasn't exactly worried for the big guy, since he was lying in their bed; logically Jak must have been the one who brought him there, so he should be alright. He was surprised that he actually managed to stay unconscious the whole ride back to the headquarters. He still felt a bit out of it, but he definitely felt a lot better than before.

He decided that it was about time that he left his little nest of warmth so he peeled off the covers and gingerly sat up. He looked around, and as expected, the room was empty. He noticed that he was still wearing Jak's large tunic. Daxter hoped he would get some new clothes soon which would be both better fitted and without dried metal head blood on them. A shower and some food wouldn't be too bad, either. Luckily, one of his wishes was granted in that moment when Jak walked in with a tray of food.

"Good, you're awake, just in time for dinner," Jak said when he found the dishevelled redhead sitting up in the bed.

He sat the tray down on the edge of the bed and took a seat beside it.

"So how you're feeling?" he inquired.

"Can't complain." Daxter inhaled the wonderful smell of food.

He grabbed one of the plates and placed it in his lap. He dug in greedily on the surprisingly tasty stew and took a large bite of the slightly dry, but still passable, bread. Jak had gotten hold of the good stuff this time.

"Where have you been?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

The blond took the time to swallow before he answered. "I reported to Torn and fixed us some dinner."

"So what did Tattooed Wonder say this time?"

"Nothing much, but he seemed pretty interested in the eco of course. He will probably send a team to check it out as soon as possible."

"Well, I hope you made that cheap old goat pay us enough at least."

Jak rolled his eyes. "You'd better not say that so he hears it."

Daxter huffed and took another large bite of his bread. "I'm not afraid of him," he muttered. Which of course was a lie. More accurately, he was not afraid of Torn when Jak was around to protect him. Alone was a totally different matter.

Jak didn't comment but lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

Daxter quickly changed the subject. "Do we at least have the rest of the day off?"

"Yeah. So what do you want to do?" He was looked over with one of Jak's typical worrying glances. "Or maybe you should just rest today."

"Naaw, that's just boring. I'm fine, big guy, let's celebrate my new looks. How about you teach me how to drive?" Daxter wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Jak grunted. "Maybe another day."

"Jaak," Daxter whined but was ignored. "Fine, then I want to go shopping instead."

Jak seemed to come to the conclusion that shopping was the lesser of two evils and went along with it. Besides, Daxter still didn't have anything decent to wear so it was much needed. For the shopping tour he borrowed an old outgrown tunic and the smallest pair of pants Jak could find. With a belt around his waist he managed to get everything to stay up on his thin structure. He took a look in the mirror and grimaced; he looked ridiculous. He heard Jak chuckle in the background.

He growled low in his throat. "I should make you wear some of Tess's clothes, than nobody would be looking at me."

"They probably wouldn't fit, but come to think about it, I think they would fit you perfectly." Jak smiled smugly. "Maybe I could ask her, you would look cute in a dress." He made an attempt to head for the door.

"You'll regret that comment," Daxter warned before he, with all the force he could muster, tackled the blond. Maybe for once he could actually get an upper-hand. He was no little ottsel anymore. Their play-fight during his ottsel time hadn't really been much of a play-fight at all since Jak easily could have picked him up between his thumb and index finger anytime he wanted. But to think it would be much more different now, he quickly learned, was wishful thinking.

Jak hit the wall, at first taken by surprise by the weight that suddenly pounced on him. But their positions were quickly reversed, and Daxter found himself being the one pinned to the wall.

"You were saying," Jak said with a haughty smile while pressing in closer. He gritted his teeth and tried to push away the annoyingly self-satisfied elf, but his flailing arms were efficiently caught by his wrists and pinned on either side of his head

Daxter was not someone to admit defeat easily so he bucked his hips in attempt to escape, which didn't budge Jak one bit, but it did bring a moan from his lips. He stilled and looked puzzled at the hero, who had closed his eyes. Then he realised that he had practically rammed his groin right into the Jak's. He blushed crimson, embarrassed not only by his action but by a part of his anatomy that really shouldn't be reacting right now.

"I—" he started to say, but forgot what he had been about to say just as quickly. Jak had opened his eyes and was staring down at him. Was it his imagination, or had also leaned in a bit closer? His breath caught in his throat. Like a flawlessly imitation of a deer caught in the headlights he stood perfectly still, forgetting all about escaping. He felt Jak's lips brush lightly against his cheek when the hero leaned forward and spoke in his ear.

"I win."

Daxter shuddered and tried to form a coherent thought from the mush once called his brain.

"Yeah big guy, you win," he finally managed to croak out and breathed a sigh of relief when Jak backed off. He quickly pushed off the wall. "I'm going to take a shower before we head out," he blurted out before he quickly rushed to the bathroom leaving a surprised Jak behind.

'This is wrong, this is wrong, this is so wrong,' Daxter repeated over and over again to himself where he was sitting on the toilet seat with his head leaning heavily in his hands. He was now actually grateful for Jak's big pants that had been able to hide the beginning of a hard on he had gotten after being pressed between Jak and the wall.

'Naked Torn, no wait, naked Torn in a G-string!' He thought vigorously and shuddered at the nasty image that popped up in his head. Slowly he felt his length soften. He was not going to jack off with his best friend in mind, his little problem was just going to have to go away on its own. It was just a combination of close contact and some crazy hormones, right?

He needed a shower, a cold shower.

Jak breathed a sigh of relief at Daxter strange, but blissfully, quick exit. 'What's wrong with me?' What if Daxter had noticed?' His trousers felt uncomfortably tight and he sat down on the bed in hopes of easing the pressure. He ran a hand through his mess of blond and green locks. If this was how it was going to be he really needed to try avoiding any close contact with Daxter. But when the redhead had bucked his slim hips right into his it had felt wonderfully good. Too good, it shouldn't feel like that at all. Daxter was a guy, and his best friend for that matter. 'This is so messed up!' He groaned and flung himself back on the bed.

When Daxter returned from his shower the pressure in Jak's pants had luckily eased and he prayed that it would stay that way. He smiled slightly at the small elf's still rather comical appearance and his struggles to keep Jak's pants in place on his slender hips. He got up from the bed and retrieved his gun; you could never be too careful.

"Ready?" he inquired.

"Ready whenever you are."

Jak was thankful that Daxter decided to let the awkward moment from before slide.

On their way out they ran into Torn in one of the headquarters' narrow hallways. Jak could almost see the former ottsel bursting with excitement beside him. But before Daxter even got a syllable out the old Krimzon guard made sure to destroy his fun.

"So this is the rat?"

"Heey!"

"He sounds the same alright. Too bad" he said with a snort and walked past them. He glanced over his shoulder. "Don't be late tomorrow." Jak nodded.

Daxter looked up accusingly at him. "Aww, you already told him Jak, you big party pooper!"

"I might have mentioned something about you not being your usual self anymore."

"You're no fun!" Daxter huffed and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

Well, he could live with that. Better a disappointed Daxter than a dead one. He was likely to end up with a knife against his throat if Torn didn't recognise him. Jak preferred to avoid any dangerous misunderstandings with the former Krimzon guard. Unknown people in the headquarters were dead people. Act first and ask later was Torn's motto.

"So what're you doing tomorrow?" Daxter asked while he, with quick strides, made his way towards the exit door. Jak hurried his steps to keep up with his friend's joyful bouncing.

"Torn's got a new mission for me. It shouldn't take too much time. You could stay with Tess at the bar in the meantime if you want. She would probably like some company."

Daxter stopped in the middle of another leap and glanced over his shoulder with a frown.

"I'm not coming with you?" His ears slumped slightly.

Jak winced at the pitiful expression that was directed towards him.

"Dax, I'm sorry, it's just that—"

"I'm in the way, right?"

"It's not like that. I just don't want you to get hurt. I can't keep you on my shoulder anymore, I can't protect you."

"I can protect myself." Even as he said it, Jak could see that even Daxter knew it was a lie. He was in no way totally helpless, but he had never fought against Krimzon guards and metal heads on regular basis like Jak had.

He sighed. "Dax, you don't even know how to use a gun," he argued.

"You could teach me," the redhead answered stubbornly.

"But not in one day." He walked up to him. "Daxter," he put his hand on a bony little shoulder. "Please just stay with Tess tomorrow," he pleaded.

Daxter squirmed and finally heaved a big sigh. "Alright big guy, but just this once."

At least he won this time, Jak thought with relief, but he knew this would just be the first of many battles. He didn't know how many more he could win in the future. But he was not going to place Daxter in a dangerous situation, no matter what.

"Let's go and find you some clothes," he said and ruffled the flaming mass of hair which to his satisfaction earned him a smile back on Daxter's face again.

TBC

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_That's all for this time but I don't think you will have to wait for chapter four for too long, I'm havi__ng fun writing it right now. Please review and maybe my hands will type just a little bit faster. ;) And look no cliffhanger, I can end a chapter without them! XD_


	4. Chapter 4

_I know this i__s pretty short but it was a good place to end the chapter. I could have continued and left you with a mean cliffhanger. But I decided to be nice and avoid it. :) Hopefully chapter five shouldn't take too long since I've already written half of it. _

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The last couple of hours had been great, Daxter decided. He could finally buy clothes! Maybe that was just something girls should be excited about. Jak sure hated it. But Daxter on the other hand was in heaven when digging through tons of clothes, just to find the perfect outfit. To his disappointment he had to cast away some of the cooler stuff because they were just too big to fit his small frame. But after some thorough searching he did find some fairly well-fitting neat clothes. Jak looked pretty relieved when he announced that he was done. His favourite finds were a really cool dark jacket, leather of course, and some soft fingerless gloves that fitted perfectly. He was practically bouncing on their way home while Jak just strolled calmly after him, carrying most of his clothes.

Because they were in the neighbourhood they also made a visit to Keira at the garage who gave his new look as much, or rather as little, excitement as Torn had. Sure she had already seen him as human before, but still, a little more than a pat on the back would have been nice. At least the visit gave him an opportunity to test his new clothes. He strolled out of the bathroom with hands on his hips and a big smile plastered on his face. He made a little turn to show off his new outfit containing a thin long sleeved sweater in a pale yellow colour and over it a red sleeveless hood with a zipper, black pants and brown boots. The finishing touch was his fingerless leather gloves which he caressed lovingly.

"What do you think?"

Keira looked up from her work, and with a wrench still in her hand gave him thumbs up.

"Very nice, it suits you Daxter."

His smile widened at the praise, then he glanced questioningly at Jak who leaned casually against one of the many zoomers in the garage.

"You look good, Dax," the big guy said with a small smile grazing his lips.

Daxter's stomach felt comfortably warm by both the compliment and smile that was directed towards him.

They hung out at the garage for a couple of hours since they hadn't been to see Keira for quite sometime and she excitedly showed them her latest work. And to his satisfaction, Daxter also got the opportunity to shock a few more people at the garage who had only seen him as a small orange rat on Jak's shoulder before. He hadn't had so much fun in a long time. By the time they headed back it had started to darken outside.

Daxter yawned tiredly; maybe he hadn't entirely recovered from their little mission after all. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes; there was one place he wanted to visit first before he would happily welcome the bed.

"Don't fall asleep on your feet," Jak warned who had noticed his jaw-breaking yawning and slight stumbling.

He groaned. "If I were an ottsel I would let you carry me right now. We should have taken a zoomer!"

"You'll live, we almost there anyway."

"Hey Jak, I want to visit Tess at the bar first."

The blond cast him a glance. "You'll meet her tomorrow, are you sure that you're up to it tonight?"

He grinned. "Yeah, I haven't got a chance to celebrate my new body after all."

On their way back the fresh air appeared to have quite the amazing effect on Daxter's fatigue, because the redhead seemed to be all over the place and Jak had a hard time keeping track of him. It was dark outside, and if the city was a dangerous place during the day it was twice as bad during the nights. After almost loosing sight of him the third time he settled with taking a firm hold on the back of his hood the rest of the way to the bar. Daxter had always been a bundle of energy but Jak hadn't quite realised how much more difficult he would be to manage in human size.

He was almost as happy as Daxter when they finally arrived at the Naughty Ottsel; if nothing else just to have the energetic little elf locked up in a smaller space. He pushed the door open with his shoulder and entered. Tess stood at the bar disk and was serving a couple of customers. A few people were at the back, but besides that it seemed to be a pretty slow evening for the bar. She looked up when he heard the door open, she smiled and waved.

"Hi there Jak, long time since I got any visits from my favourites customers!"

Jak shrugged. "We've been a bit busy lately."

She looked him over, than frowned. "So where is my little fuzz ball?"

"Right here baby, alive and kick'n!" Daxter choose that moment to stick his head out from behind Jak with a grin.

Tess looked confused.

"It's me, Dax." He held out his arms and made a little turn. "Didn't I tell you I wasn't always fuzzy."

"Daxie?" she asked disbelievingly.

"The one and only, baby."

"Daxie!" She squealed and came running from behind the counter.

She threw herself around Daxter's neck, and almost made them both tumble to the ground. Jak couldn't help but, to feel a little jealous at the sight of Tess practically pawing all over him to make sure what she saw was the real thing. For a second he hesitated at leaving Daxter with her tomorrow, but quickly scolded himself. He would be safe here, that's the only thing that mattered and definitely not some misplaced jealously from his side.

He walked up to the bar and sat down heavily on one of the stools. It had been a long day, and Daxter wasn't the only one feeling tired.

Tess and Daxter eventually broke apart, to Jak's relief, and came to join him.

"I need something to drink!" Daxter declared and began to rummage through the bottles behind the bar disk.

Jak sighed, he hoped the redhead wasn't planning on getting overly drunk tonight. A drunken elf should be a bit harder to manage than a drunken ottsel. While Daxter was busy making a mess among the shelves behind the bar disk, he took the opportunity to lean forward over the counter towards Tess.

"I'm going on a mission tomorrow; I want Daxter to stay with you here. He isn't too excited about being left behind, so could you please try to cheer him up?"

"Sure thing, Jak." She glanced over her shoulder at the clink of bottles hitting each other. "But if you let him at it tonight I don't think he will leave bed at all tomorrow."

Jak followed her gaze to Daxter who was sitting on the floor and lovingly cuddled a big bottle of some clear liquid. He sighed.

"A couple of drinks Daxter, that's all," he warned.

"Aww, but I'm bigger now Jak, I can handle more!" He got to his feet with the big bottle still clutched in his hands.

Jak doubted it.

And just as he thought, after a couple of drinks Daxter seemed just as drunk as he used to be as an ottsel. Not too bad yet, but if he didn't want to carry the redhead back home he better keep the alcohol at a safe distant from him. In the corner of his eyes he saw Daxter fumble for the bottle on the counter to refill his glass, Jak smoothly interfered and pushed it away just out of reach.

Daxter kept his arm outstretched for a couple of seconds, like he was willing the bottle to return to within arm's grasp. But when nothing happened, he dropped the arm and plopped down his whole upper body over the counter in defeat.

"Jaak," he whined.

"I'm not carrying you back to our room so if you don't want to sleep here tonight on one of the bar stools, that was your last drink." Which was not entirely true, because Jak wouldn't leave his friend sleeping at the bar no matter how drunk he was.

"You're mean."

"You will thank me in the morning," he stated matter-of-factly.

The redhead mumbled something that was lost to his ears.

During the evening Tess had got a marvellous and slightly over-exaggerated story of the day's events from Daxter. It was illustrated with big gesture and Jak had to place a steadying hand on the small elf's back numerous times during the story, to keep him from falling right of the stool in his arm flailing demonstrations. But now the fatigue seemed to have caught up with Daxter again, and he lay slumped over the bar disk like a lifeless doll.

"How about we get you to bed, Dax?"

Another incoherent mumble.

It looked like he would have to carry his friend home after all. Not so much because he was overly drunk, but because he seemed to be half asleep already.

"I'll take that as a yes."

He looped a slim arm around his shoulder and heaved Daxter up on his feet. "Up you go," he murmured.

The sudden change in position brought some life into the drunken elf and he looked up at Jak with a dazed look. "We're leaving?"

"Yeah, we're leaving. It's time for bed."

"Mmm, bed." A grin spread across Daxter's face and he slumped in Jak's arms like he was expecting to already have a bed right under him.

Jak quickly tighten his arm around Daxter's waist before he could fall to the ground.

"Not yet Dax, we gotta get there first." He glanced at the bags of clothes behind the bar, but decided to leave them. Daxter could pick them up tomorrow.

He said good night to Tess before he started to half-carry his friend out of the bar. The walk home was an awkward affair with Daxter stumbling into him every step or so. When they approached the headquarters he was dragging the redhead instead of supporting him. And at the same time as he tried to keep his friend on his feet, he did his best to glance around at their surrounding for any possible threats. It wasn't an easy task.

"Jaaak, do you think you'll miss Orange lightning?"

'Yeah, now I do,' he thought to himself when Daxter, for the hundredth time that night stumbled into him. A drunken ottsel had been so much easier to handle.

"I don't need to. You're still here just in a different package, the original package."

Daxter seemed to ponder over that fact and the thud of their boots hitting the ground was the only sound that was heard for awhile.

"I think I might," Daxter suddenly added quietly.

Jak looked down at him, puzzled by the admission, and by the sad look that crossed his face.

"Dax?"

"But this is great too you know, more booze and more chicks for Daxter." He smiled weakly. "And cool clothes, I love my new clothes," he added with a mumble.

Jak didn't answer, and instead he concentrated on getting the limp redhead through the door to the headquarters. It seemed more like Daxter was talking to himself anyway.

When he finally got them inside, the stairs to the second floor stretched before them like an unclimbable mountain. He glanced down at his cargo and sighed; Daxter had practically passed out with his head resting heavily on his shoulder. He could try to shake some life into his friend, but decided it would be easier to just carry him the rest of the way. He heaved the limp body up into his arms and started to climb the stairs. Luckily Daxter still wasn't very heavy even as human, which was good because Jak wasn't up for any heavy lifting at the moment. He was exhausted. It wasn't just Daxter who was in need of a bed.

As expected, the hallways were pretty much empty this time of night, with the exception of a few rebels Jak passed on his way to their room. He nodded in greeting and they looked at him puzzled. They probably wondered where his side-kick had disappeared to, and who the unknown redhead in his arms was. Jak wasn't exactly well-known for being a guy who liked close contact. Everyone knew to keep at least an arms length away from him. So seeing someone pressed up against him, besides his orange rat, must have been quite a surprise for them. Jak smiled; well, that would give them something to gossip about.

He sat Daxter down beside him when he got to their door, but still kept a secure hold around his waist while he fished for the keys in his pocket. He mused over Daxter's strange comment from before. The ottsel had wanted to become human again, right? He had been nothing but happy since he changed back, so Jak hadn't really considered the fact that he wasn't pleased with the transformation. Maybe he just needed some time to get used to it. The hero decided to dismiss it; Daxter always said the strangest things when he was drunk, after all. Instead he settled on concentrating on manoeuvring them through their narrow doorframe. He closed, and locked the door before dragging Daxter the last couple of steps to the bed and dumping him there.

That's when it appeared to him, they only had one bed. And right now it was being occupied by Daxter who was snuggling the covers with a content smile on his lips, not even bothering to get under it.

"I guess we both could fit," he muttered. It's not like they had never shared a bed in Sandover and they had after all done it every night since Daxter became an ottsel. It would be a bit tight but they could manage.

He took off his boots and changed into an old t-shirt. He removed the redhead's boots before he made a mess in their bed and after some consideration decided to get Daxter out of the hood as well. Jak decided to leave the rest of the clothes on. He was not going to strip his sleeping friend; he had seen enough of his skin in one day already. Jak rolled the limp elf over on his back and unzipped the hood. He earned himself some grumbles when he tried to manoeuvre it off the not so very helpful Daxter, who quickly curled together on his side when left alone.

He gently shoved the redhead to the left side of the bed before he joined him and pulled the covers over both of them. He lay facing Daxter, who had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply like in sleep. Jak quenched the sudden impulse of reaching out and touch the smooth looking cheek of his friend.

Instead he started to close his eyes in an attempt to follow Daxter into oblivion, when he felt the body beside him stir. The redhead suddenly curled up to him, just as he used to when being an ottsel. Jak blushed when feeling the lithe body pressed against his chest. 'I guess he doesn't mind the sleeping arrangement then.'

"I want come on your missions, Jak. I don't want to be left behind," Daxter murmured into his chest.

He patted a slim shoulder awkwardly, in an attempt to comfort.

"I know Dax, I know. Try to get some sleep."

He didn't know if he was heard, because the redhead already seemed to have returned to the land of dreams and was snuggling his t-shirt with content. He wondered how pleased Daxter would be to wake up in his best friend's arms tomorrow, but right then he didn't care, and soon after he was sound asleep.

TBC

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_That's all for this time, I hope you liked it. Please review! _

_Btw I've finally taken the time to do a little illustration to this story. But I must warn you that it's not very good. I put it in my scraps section on DA: _

_http:// sjostrand. deviantart. com /art/Human-again-79243470 _

_(The spaces must of course be removed to get a functioning link) _


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm really sorry to keep you waiting so long for this but I've been very busy. March was a terrible month for me, it felt like the teachers were planning to suffocate us with work. And at the middle of all the chaos I've also tried to get a job for the summer. So it's been kind of difficult for me to keep my muse happy, or just find the time to write. But now things are looking better, I got a job, a really good one it seems, and I have finished the two courses that have been slowly killing me this last month. I actually have a little free time before I start my new work. So hopefully my writing will not be too neglected. :) _

--

He had had much worse hangovers, but this could definitely qualify as one of those really bad days, Daxter concluded miserably while staring out at the buzzing street through a dirty window of the bar. When he had woken up that morning he had found himself alone in bed and with a pounding headache. Jak, like the morning person he was, was already up and dressed. Daxter had valiantly tried to hide under the covers in an attempt to stay in bed all day, but Jak had been irritably insistent on chasing him out of there.

Come to think about it, Daxter was not entirely sure exactly how he ended up in their warm, cosy bed in the first place. He hadn't really been conscious enough for it. He had a vague memory of getting back from the bar, but it ended somewhere around when they arrived at the headquarters. After that it was pretty much blank. He was actually starting to get a bit worried that he could tolerate less alcohol now than before the transformation.

That sure was a scary thought.

But Jak had reassured him that it had probably just been a combination of fatigue and alcohol. He certainly hoped so. It would be a sad day when just a couple of drinks would bring him under the table. And while he had not been required to spend his morning hanging over the toilet seat, he still suffered from a persistent headache that certainly didn't help to lighten his already sour mood.

Jak was gone.

And that little fact was more annoying than any hangover. The big guy had left for a mission in the sewers a couple of hour ago, and he was now ditched at the bar. He didn't know any more details, just that the hero expected to be back that afternoon.

'Oh, joy.'

Jak had been quick to leave that morning, too, maybe so he could avoid any further complaints from the still half-asleep redhead. He had fetched them some breakfast which had been eaten in silence with the occasional interruption of Daxter's grumbles and complains. He was not a graceful morning person after all, especially if he had a few drinks the evening before.

After breakfast he was quickly, too quickly in his opinion, ushered out of bed and dragged to the Naughty Ottsel. Well, at least the big guy was determined to make sure he got there safely.

'I guess I should be touched.'

But then Jak was off again just as swiftly and here he was leaning over the bar disk and watching some tiny dust particles fly through the air. 'This sucks, big time,' he thought with a grumble. There wasn't much for him to do either, since it was only midday, and the first customers wouldn't start to drop in for a few hours.

"What's with the sour face, Dax?" Tess came up to him and sat down at a stool in front of him. "Still feeling ill?"

Daxter tore his eyes away from the whirling dust, and glanced at her. Then on second thought, he peeked down at her very visible cleavage. But then sighed, and looked away; not even that would do the trick today.

"I just don't see what I'm doing here when Jak is out there."

"You're still thinking about that? Come on, help me clean this place instead."

And that's how he ended up cleaning up after last nights customers. Not a very pleasant job, but at least it kept his mind off Jak for awhile. It was irritating to realise just how hard that task really was. He was like a perfect little Jak-stalker. 'He's not thinking of me so I will not think of him,' he thought irritably, and violently attacked the same spot on the floor for the third time with the broom.

It probably took longer than it should to sweep the floor since Daxter was mostly using the broom to get out some suppressed aggression, but finally it looked decently clean. He leaned heavily on the broomstick and wiped his damp forehead on his sleeve; sweating was definitely one of the downside of being back to human.

He watched Tess coming out of the storage room with a frown. This was the first time that morning that Daxter had seen her with anything less than a happy face. Well, she was more than welcome to join his "let's-glum-all-day-club."

"What's up, sugar pie?"

"We ran out of beer last night. I thought we had some left in the stockroom. I really need to get my hands on some more before tonight's business."

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot thoughtfully against the floor. Then she glanced at him with a calculating look, and once again that damn happy smile was back on.

"Dax, could you be a darling and watch the bar for me, just for a couple of hours?"

He should have seen it coming.

"Sure, sweet cheeks, anything for you," he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, which wasn't much.

"Thanks Daxie!" Tess leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek than rushed passed him, but stopped at the door.

"Oh, and by the way, could you wipe the bar disk while I'm out? A guy puked over it last night." Before he had time to reply she was gone.

Daxter glanced at the bar disk sceptically, then sighed. "It's not like I have anything better to do," he muttered forlornly.

He ended up scrubbing angrily on a stubborn old stain on the counter, yet another way to get some built up frustration out. This was not what he had in mind when he was turned into a human again. Was this how it was going to be, he being ditched at the bar or the headquarters every time Jak went on a mission? Then he might as well have stayed in his ottsel form. Because if Jak wasn't there to enjoy his new body with him, then what's the point?

'Wow, I'm really in an emo mood today. Damn, it's Jak that's doing this to me!'

Sounds from the front door suddenly brought him out of his gloomy thoughts. He looked up, hoping to spot some early customers that he could talk to. But the ones that walked through the door were definitely not any people he wanted to make conversation with. He gasped, and quickly dived behind the bar disk. Three heavily armed Krimzon Guards had just walked in through the front door.

'Shit!' This just wasn't his day.

Though, come to think about it, that was what he had said about yesterday, too. Maybe this just wasn't his week.

'Go away, go away,' he pleaded silently. But, instead of leaving, he heard the sounds of heavy boots coming closer to his hiding place. He was in so much trouble. A crash made him wince and huddle closer to the bar disk.

"It seems empty," a gruff voice said.

"Let's just have a look around."

'No, no, go away!'

Daxter's breathing was becoming closer and closer to hyperventilating. He forced himself to take a deep breath just to avoid passing out. Yes, he admited it, he was scared. He wasn't brave like Jak; the Krimzon Guards scared the shit out of him. Really it was a logical fear, he told himself; any sane person would want to avoid any type of close contact with them. Especially if you, like him, were part of the underground and were best friend with Jak. Not a very good combination if you wanted to be popular by the rule in this city.

He knew it wouldn't take long before he was found; they would be stupid if they didn't look behind the counter. Although, you could never be too sure when it came to the Krimzon Guards. But with his last days of luck he shouldn't count on it. He frantically begun to search for a better hiding place, and almost was about to head for a stack of boxes before he realised that he was way too big to fit in them with his current body.

The irony almost had him laughing. The one time he could really benefit from being small and fuzzy, he had to go and change back into human the day before. Someone up there must really hate him. But then again, there was the fact that if he was an ottsel he wouldn't even have to be in this situation in the first place.

He would be with Jak, on his shoulder, where he belonged.

'Being safe my ass, I would be safer with Jak right now. We're the Demolition Duo, we should stick together no matter what.'

He shouldn't be here all alone, he should be with his buddy. So even though Daxter loved his newly returned body he couldn't help but to think that being an ottsel wouldn't be so bad, at least sometimes. This was definitely one of those moments when it would come in handy.

'I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really wish I was an ottsel right now.'

Daxter almost screamed out loud when his body started to tingle and a sudden burning feeling spread all over his skin. He suppressed most of it but he couldn't stop the squeak that left his lips. Luckily it came out muffled because there was suddenly something big and suffocating that had landed on top of him, almost like an enormous tent.

"What the—"

He struggled to get the big thing off him but with little success.

"What was that?" he heard the guard with the gruff voice say.

Daxter froze and his ears perked up.

"It came from behind the bar."

'Oh shit!' He started to struggle even more vigorously to get free from the giant tent that had decided to make residence on top of him. Though, he had no actual plan on what to do after he got free. But to run seemed like a pretty good option.

However, before he could make his way out on his own, a hand was there to help him. It grabbed him painfully hard by the scruff of his neck and he found himself dangling in the air just before a Krimzon Guard's helmet-covered face.

He blinked, surprised, a couple of times, trying to make some sense out of the situation.

'Have the Krimzon Guards become giants or… Damn, are those my clothes on the ground?'

He looked down at himself, and was met by the sight of an orange coat.

'When did Tess start to store dark eco behind the bar disk?!'

No, that couldn't be it, he thought rationally. But did that mean that the eco from the cave had some kind of time limit, did he only get one single day as a human?

'What kind of lame light eco is that?!'

Daxter was confused, to say the least, but this really wasn't the time to ponder over it, which he soon discovered when he was violently brought back to present by a rough shake that had his head spinning. He gritted his teeth and was about to curse the stupid Krimzon Guard who seemed to think he was some sort of rag doll, but bit his tongue at the last minute. It wasn't sure that they knew who he was. He could just be a strange orange animal to them, and he wasn't about to tell them differently.

'I'm just a dumb animal, that you can ignore.' At least he hoped they would come to that conclusion.

"What is this thing?" the one holding him said, and brought the ottsel closer for inspection.

So they hadn't heard of the Demolition Duo after all. Of course they must know of Jak, everybody did. But these guys definitely didn't know about the ottsel the hero usually carried on his shoulder. Maybe his luck was returning after all.

"Looks like some kind of animal."

"I can see that," the man that was holding him answered irritably.

"Who cares what it is," the third guard said, and walked past them. "Just get rid of it so we can search the place and get out of here."

The one holding him shrugged. But if Daxter had been expecting to be put down gently on his feet, he was sadly mistaken. Instead he was tossed over the man's shoulder, and with an audible crash collided with the shelf behind the bar disk. The violent impact sent the whole construction into motion and a wooden box that had been standing precariously close to the edge on one of the shelves tipped over and fell on top of the dazed ottsel. Daxter gasped in pain when the heavy load landed on him, crushing his right leg in the process. He bit his lip when he, at the last second, remembered to keep any loud curses to himself.

He tried to move to ease the crushing pressure, but the heavy box had him pinned to the ground. His breath was coming in short pants as he tried to get used to the fierce pain in his leg. All he wanted to do was to scream for someone to get the heavy thing off him. But that would only earn him the attention of the guards, and he didn't expect any help from them. When he realised moving was definitely not helping his situation he lay back, gasping, and tried to stay still in hopes of easing the pain.

He just had to ride it out. Tess would return soon, she would help him. He just hoped the Krimzon Guards would decide to leave before then. He wasn't sure what they would do to her but it would not be something good, and he wasn't exactly in any position to help her.

He could hear the guards going through the bar, casting everything aside that wasn't of interest. Tess would have one hell of time cleaning after they were done crashing the place. At least he knew they wouldn't find anything useful. The Naughty Ottsel was a place for the rebels to hang out, but they weren't stupid enough to leave any information there. He just hoped the guards would give up and leave.

A loud crash nearby made him wince, which was a bad idea since that made the pain in his leg flare.

"There's nothing here, it's just a waste of time."

"Make sure to check the back, too."

He could hear a couple of bottles crash when they went through the store room, but not too long after they finally left. They probably hadn't been at the bar for much more than fifteen minutes, but it felt like forever for Daxter. He breathed a sigh of relief at the blissful silence. The guards' exit didn't exactly change his situation in any way, but it felt better to not be on edge all the time, and he was glad that Tess wouldn't run into them.

The main question right now was just why he had ended up as an ottsel again. It had been practical of course, and even though he was in a lot of pain at the moment he knew it could been worse if the guards had seen him as a source of information. But still, the fact that he was small and fuzzy again almost made him want to cry. To get one wonderful day as a human and now be back to ottsel state again, that just wasn't fair in any way. He quickly discovered that he might have glorified the whole ottsel state a bit too much. Being tiny and helpless wasn't so much fun after all. He was pinned down by a damn box, a box that might have been heavy to lift even in his human state, but he would be quite capable of doing it. And sure he might have got a bruise if it had landed on top of him, but definitely not a crushed leg like he was experiencing right now.

'I guess size really does matter.'

Time passed slowly for the ottsel, who was beginning to think that the box was determined to crush the very bones in his legs. It probably hadn't passed much time since the guards left, but to Daxter it felt like forever. He was never very good with handling pain gracefully. This was ironic, since Jak on the other hand acted like he was immune to it. Which he probably was true in some ways; most things must seem pretty minor compared to his painful time in prison. At least he assumed it had been painful by looking at the scars. Jak never told him much, but the scars and the nightmares did it for him.

Daxter tilted his head back and glanced at the clock that he could just barely catch a glimpse of if he raised his head slightly. It had just passed twenty minutes; damn that was the longest twenty minutes of his life. But at least the pain in his leg had changed into a painful but dull ache, as long as he stayed still that is. He had quickly given up on any attempt of removing the box, since it only made the pain flare and it didn't do him any good. It was just too heavy. He wondered how long he would need to lay there. He knew Tess was just as excited over shopping as he was, and if she had decided to drag Keira along with her… Damn, he was going to be here forever!

--

Jak wiped a few sweat drops from his forehand with the back of his gloved hand. It was one of the warmer days in Haven City, which made it the worst kind of day to run around in the sewers. He was filthy, sweaty, and smelly. A cold shower seem very appealing to him at the moment. But at least he had made the delivery successfully, so Torn would be pleased. A displeased Torn was never fun to handle. He had also beyond a doubt made certain that he was still well sought after by Baron Praxis. The number of Krimzon Guards he had met during the day made him even more relieved that he got Daxter to stay at the bar.

They were definitely getting more insistent on capturing him, and he was beginning to worry about being seen with Daxter. His fiery red hair stuck out so much from the crowd, and he didn't want people starting to associate him with a small redheaded elf. Daxter's change of appearance could actually work out in their favour. The ottsel on Jak's shoulder was starting to get well-known among the guards, but not a redheaded elf. Jak was a wanted man and he would rather not drag Daxter along with him. He had to be safe at all cost.

When he caught sight of a flash of red armour in the corner of his eye he sharply turned a corner and slipped into the darkness of a nearby alley. The two Krimzon Guards walked by on the main street, oblivious to his presence just a couple of feet away. Jak had had enough of encounters for one day, and he didn't want to attract attention so close to the bar and headquarters. Right now he just wanted to get back to the bar, and to Daxter. A small smile grazed his lips at the though of his fiery little friend, and to his big embarrassment a totally different part of his anatomy decided to react as well. Damn, he had to get his head under control soon, or he was going to embarrass himself in front of Daxter in the very near future. Now he really wished that he never saw Daxter naked, the mental image was in no way helping the matter.

That was another reason why it was good that Daxter hadn't been with him today; Jak probably wouldn't be able to concentrate at all. Although he must admit that he had missed the ottsel's constant chatter. It had felt oddly quiet without him on his shoulder. And too serious. Daxter just had a way of taking the edge off things, kept him sane through the whole ordeal. More than once today he had felt the dark eco creeping up on him under the heat of the battle. It wanted to come out, to roam free, to kill. It had taken him quite a bit of will power to suppress it. Jak hadn't realized just how much Daxter had helped him restrain the dark eco within him.

After taking the way through a couple of less crowded backstreets, he finally arrived in front of the Naughty Ottsel. It was an anonymous place, designed to avoid attracting attention from anyone who didn't already know about its existence. A worn paper sign with the word 'OPEN' written in thick black letters hung on the front door, however Jak doubted any customers had arrived yet.

He noticed that the door was slightly ajar when he got closer. Probably to let some air into the stuffy bar. The heat was at its worst now, and he removed his goggles from his sweaty forehead when he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Out of habit he tossed them at the small table by the entrance, but the different sound alerted him that they had instead ended up on the floor. Puzzled, he looked to the side and saw that the table wasn't standing in its usual spot; it was lying upside down on the floor by the wall. He frowned and looked up at the rest of the bar.

The room was a mess.

Tables, chairs, and shards of glass lay in disarray on the floor.

Jak felt his heart skip a beat. He could only think of one reason why the bar looked like this; Krimzon Guards had been there.

'Where's Daxter?!'

Jak wasn't one to succumb to panic easily, but now was definitely one of those rare moments. His brain was already going through a thousand scenarios, and none of them were very pretty.

'What if they knew, what if they knew that Daxter was important?'

He took a deep breath when he felt his oxygen-deprived lungs started to complain. 'Breathe Jak, and calm down.' Logically they shouldn't know, as Daxter had just been human for one day. There was no way they could know that he was Jak's little ottsel. But that didn't really matter, because they were still part of the underground which worked against the Baron. That was all it took to get a one way ticket to prison, or worse. It's not like the Krimzon Guard ever cared much about evidence, either.

He reached for his gun and took a couple of steps into the bar, shattered pieces of glass crushed under his boots. He looked around. The place seemed deserted.

"Dax, Tess?" he called hopefully, but wasn't really expecting an answer. So when he did get one, he almost jumped in surprise.

"Jak?" a weak voice answered him.

"Daxter!" He frantically looked around the mess of the bar, searching for his friend. He frowned when he couldn't find him. "Dax, where are you?"

"Behind the counter." The voice was still weak, but a little bit steadier this time.

He rushed to the bar disk and leaned over it.

"What are you doing—" The rest of the sentence got caught in his throat.

He was going to have a heart attack if this kept up.

On the floor almost hidden by boxes and bottles lay Daxter, not in his human form but as a fuzzy little orange animal. That was a sight that wouldn't have shocked him one bit any other day, but since yesterday he hadn't counted on ever seeing that sight again.

He was so surprised that he actually forgot to be relieved to find his friend alive. But Daxter wasn't about to wait for him to come around.

"I know Jak, Orange lightning is back! Could we please discuss this after you get this box off me?!"

Then he saw that one of the big boxes that were usually kept stacked on a shelf behind the bar was now lying on top of the ottsel's right leg. He quickly went around the counter and kneeled on the ground. As gently as possible he removed the heavy load from Daxter. It still earned a whine from the ottsel, but also a sigh of relief.

"What happened? Why are you…why are you like this?"

"Beats me, unless Tess has started to store dark eco in the bar. I'm just as clueless as you are, Jak."

'Tess!' He had almost forgotten about her in his worry about Daxter. "Is she alright, where is she?"

Daxter groaned and tried to sit up. Jak helped him with a steadying hand on the ottsel's back.

"She's alright, she went out shopping."

"What happened?"

"Some Krimzon Guards came in and wrecked the place, and I turned into an ottsel." He grimaced. "You get the longer version when we get my leg fixed up."

Daxter was right; he was hurt, and explanations could wait until later.

"Let me have a look."

Daxter complied and removed his paws from where they had been clutching at his legs. Jak was no medical expert so he wasn't sure if anything was broken or not, but he did find a rather large patch of skin rubbed raw and bloody by the edge of the box just above the ottsel's right knee. His conscience assaulted him; he should have been there to protect Daxter.

"Dax, I'm sorry."

"Sheesh Jak, you gotta stop taking the blame for everything. It's not your fault, so spare me the guilt trip." He glanced up at Jak with clear blues eyes that bore in to his. "But next time, you're not leaving me behind, buddy."

Jak had nothing to say to that.

"Let's get you fixed up."

TBC

--

_Jak almost forgot about Te__ss, tsss Jak that's not very nice of you. XD_

_Did you notice that you got a slightly longer chapter than usual, no? Didn't think so, but I can inform you that you in fact did, just to make it up for my long absence. _

_Feed my muse, please review!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm finally here with a new chapter, sorry to keep you waiting. But I've had some computer problems so I haven't been able to work on this as much as I wished. _

_I__f someone sent a review that I didn't reply to on the last chapter, you'll have to excuse me. I might have gotten the reviews a bit mixed up and missed to reply. I'm sorry if that's the case, I did appreciate them very much. :) _

--

Jak made sure to leave a note for Tess before he carried the injured ottsel back to headquarters. She would probably freak out when seeing the state her bar was in but at least she wouldn't have to worry about Daxter. His own racing heartbeat had only just recently returned to normal. Now he knew that Daxter was safe; not entirely unharmed, but the leg they could fix.

The only thing that had him a bit worried now was the ottsel's persistence silence. He was cuddled up against his chest with a firm grip on his tunic, but so far he hadn't said a word. He knew that the ottsel had to be feeling quite bad if he wasn't up for a single smart remark. Daxter was always constant chatter in any situation, and there were very few incidents that Jak could recall when he hadn't been.

He could still clearly remember one time in Sandover when they had just been kids. Daxter had, in one of his many moments of inattention, tripped and fallen off a small cliff they used to play on. Luckily it hadn't been a very high fall, but it had been enough to give Daxter a broken arm and a concussion. When Jak eventually found his friend at the foot of the cliff his arm had stuck out at an odd angle and he had blood on his forehead that stood in stark contrast against his ghostly pale face.

That had certainly been enough to worry Jak, but what made it even worse was the silence. It was not in any way the first time Daxter injured himself, but those other times he was either whining about it or up and playing again like nothing had happened. But the complete silence had unnerved Jak. It even made him, in his youthful naivety, think that his friend might be dying, which later of course turned out to be a bit of an exaggeration.

But on the walk home Daxter hadn't said one word. He just leaned heavily on Jak with a pained, but focused expression on his face, as if he was concentrating all his energy on getting back. When they eventually reached home, Daxter had passed out, and Jak had been frantic with worry. He was now pretty much certain that Daxter must be dying, if not dead already. The fact that the redhead had still been breathing steadily hadn't even occurred to him. So it was a big relief when Samos had assured Jak that he would definitely survive. The old man had just sighed over Daxter's usual clumsiness, then set his arm right and put him to bed. Jak had watched over his friend anxiously but to his great relief, by the time Daxter woke up, he was his old usual self again, and he spent the following weeks complaining about the big and clumsy wrapping on his arm.

So now he knew that Daxter's silence clearly didn't mean that he was dying, but it was still a pretty good sign that the ottsel was in a lot of pain. He glanced down at his precious burden who was settled in the crook of his arm. The eyes of the ottsel were closed and his jaw was set in a hard line.

"We're almost there, Dax."

He got a grunt in reply.

He scowled at the pained frown upon his friend's face, and gently started to rub the point of his index finger against the wrinkled brow in a soothing manner. He smiled when the simple gesture made Daxter's jaw relax and the frown slowly disappear. He traced his way from the forehead to the back of the ottsel's ears and started to scratch just the right spots that he knew Daxter loved. Jak could just barely make out the low purr coming from his friend when it mixed with the everyday noise of the city. He smiled. Daxter was so easy to please, just find the right spots and he would turn into a puddle of goo in your arms.

When they arrived at the headquarters he carefully manoeuvred through the busy corridors before he, with some trouble, managed to fish out the keys to their room and unlock the door without jostling the ottsel too much. He locked the door before he settled his burden on their bed, where he helped Daxter lean back against the headboard. The ottsel whined in discomfort when the movement jostled his leg.

Jak muttered an apology. He had never had the right touch for handling such a small delicate creature as an ottsel. The initial time after Daxter's transformation he had actually been terrified of in some way crushing his friend by accident. Though he had learned in time that Daxter wasn't quite as fragile as he looked, but he still felt like a clumsy fool every time Daxter got hurt and had to be handled with extra care.

He rummaged through a couple of drawers before he found their last quantity of their precious green eco. They had been running low on it for quite some time now, so Jak was relieved that they still had some of it left to treat Daxter's injury. He sure needed, it and Jak wasn't sure how easy it would be to fix a broken ottsel leg the natural way.

He got on the bed and opened the jar of glowing substance.

"This should do the trick."

His fingers tingled as he carefully applied the eco on the injury, and with satisfaction watched the lines of pain on Daxter's face finally beginning to fade. A sigh of relief escaped the ottsel.

"Feeling better?" Jak inquired, hoping to see some of the old Daxter back in action, and wanting a more detailed version of what had happened. That the Krimzon Guards had found their way to the bar didn't sit well with him at all. And even worse was that Daxter had had an encounter with them. He was lucky to be still alive.

"Yeah."

"Tell me what happened."

The ottsel was less cooperative than usual and Jak actually had to drag some of the answers out of him, which was a highly unusual thing when it came to Daxter. But what he was told made him realize, even more so than before, that Haven City was out of safe places to hide. Who knew, next time it could be the headquarters.

He glanced down at the ottsel who sat slumped against the headboard and was studying one of his paws with a sad expression. Jak sighed. The grimace of pain had faded but instead it was replaced with a look of misery. The green eco may have taken care of the injured leg, but it did nothing to change his ottsel state. Daxter had gotten a taste of the good stuff and it was already taken away from him. After getting a summary of the day's events Jak couldn't say he was any wiser as to what could have happened. Without a decent explanation to his sudden transformation Daxter had succumbed to self-pity, convinced that the change had just been temporary.

Jak wasn't too pleased about the whole thing either. To have Daxter back as human had done some crazy stuff to his hormones, but it had been nice. He liked being able to hold Daxter, something he was not going to reveal to his friend. And Daxter had been so happy; that had been the best thing about it. He wanted to see that smile again.

With a finger under Daxter's chin he raised the ottsel's head so that he met his gaze.

"Hey, we will figure this out. You'll get your body back." With a cheerier tone than usual, he added, "we'll just have to think reasonable about this. There must be a reason as to why you changed back, so if we just figure it out then you could be able to do it again."

Daxter looked at him doubtfully, then pushed Jak's finger away from under his chin.

"I think I will just have to start getting used to being small and fuzzy, Jak."

Refusing to join Daxter in his dark mood, he persisted. "The light eco was the real thing Dax, it isn't temporary. There must be something else that we're missing."

"There was obviously something wrong with it," the ottsel muttered, his mood steadily declining.

Jak sighed inwardly, but still refused to give up. "You said that you wished to become an ottsel again at the moment you changed, so you could hide?"

"Yeah."

"And you pictured yourself as an ottsel again, right?"

"I guess. But it's not like I thought it would work or anything."

"Well, what if that's the key, you wished for it and you got it?"

Daxter shook his head disbelievingly. "It sounds like some shit out of a fairytale; you don't get your wishes coming true in Haven City, Jak."

He could feel a headache coming on.

"You could give it a try at least. Think of yourself as human."

"I don't—"

"Give it a try Daxter," Jak interrupted him.

"Alright, but it's not like it's going to work."

"Just do it, for me."

After a moment of hesitation Daxter closed his eyes with a small frown of concentration on his brow. Jak watched with anticipation; it had probably been a crazy suggestion but he couldn't stop himself from hoping just a little bit. A few seconds passed by. The ottsel's ears twitched slightly but nothing else happened.

Jak was just about to speak up when the air around Daxter began to glow faintly. He blinked to clear his vision, but his eyes snapped open when he heard a shout followed by a thump. A feeling of panic seized him when suddenly finding himself alone on the bed.

He turned his head when he heard a groan from the floor.

"Oww."

He leaned over the edge of the bed, and there beside it on the floor he found Daxter in a human and a very much naked form, a sight that had stared to become quite common lately. A smile of relief was forming on his lips. He couldn't believe it had actually worked.

"It worked," he said, and reached down to capture a lock of fiery hair which he stroke affectionately between his thumb and index finger.

Daxter looked down at himself, his ears perked up, and finally Jak got to see a grin spreading across his face. God, he had missed it so much already. A depressed Daxter, just wasn't Daxter.

"Heh, that wasn't so hard after all," the redhead said with a satisfied smirk while stretching his limbs. That's when he also noticed that he was as naked as the day he was born, and with a small squeak he quickly snatched a pillow from the bed to place over his lap.

Jak grinned at the blush that was forming on his friend's cheeks. Daxter saw it, and gave him a punch on the arm.

"It's not funny!"

Jak ignored the statement.

"Do you think you can do it again?" he asked curiously.

Daxter rubbed his head. "I think so… Give me a moment."

He closed his eyes and bit his lip in concentration, and just a few seconds later he was gone and instead there was an ottsel struggling under the pillow on the floor. Jak chuckled, and leaned down to remove it.

"Hey, this is pretty easy!" Daxter exclaimed as soon as he was free from the pillow's clutches.

"How does it feel when you change, does it hurt?"

"No, not really. It's more like a tingling all over your body, a pleasant one. It feels kind of good actually."

At that moment Daxter stomach decided to protest loudly. The ottsel stared down at it as it was some sort of strange creature.

Jak grinned. "How about you choose your form, and we'll go get ourselves some dinner?"

--

The next few weeks passed almost like before Daxter's transformation. However, there were a few important differences. There was of course the big change of having Daxter by his side both as an ottsel and a human. It certainly made life interesting; you never knew which form Daxter would show up in, and it seemed like he was taking great pleasure in surprising him. However, Jak noticed that Daxter had a tendency of choosing his human form more often. Which made him happy for Daxter, but not always so happy himself.

Of course he would always prefer Daxter in his original form. That was the way he should be after all. But the ottsel was definitely easier to handle. He could have him on his shoulder during missions, and he didn't have to worry about blushing like an idiot around him, which in Jak's book was a big plus. He was starting to feel like a horny teenage boy, which he admittedly was in some ways. But with Daxter as an ottsel it almost felt like old times again. It was nice to be able to lose the edge for awhile, and not worry about any inappropriate physical reactions.

His feelings for the charismatic little redhead were growing stronger everyday. Or feelings maybe wasn't the word for it; they had always been there.

He loved Daxter, he always had.

It was more like urges; urges to reach out and touch him, to stroke his hair, or maybe even a bit more. He had already received some strange looks from Daxter the times he couldn't stop himself from reaching out to touch him or put a strand of red hair back in place. To his relief Daxter hadn't acted totally disgusted with him, yet. Or maybe he was, but didn't say anything about it. The thought worried him. It frustrated Jak that it was hanging in the air between them but no neither one of them dared to say a thing about it.

Sometimes it felt like awkward moments were starting to become a daily occurrence. Mostly because Daxter stayed in his human form most of the times with the exception of missions, because Jak wouldn't have it any other way, and sleeping times. It seemed like the little redhead still had a fondness for curling up like a little ball of fuzziness on the pillow or on Jak's chest. Though Daxter would never admit it, instead he blamed it on Jak for taking up too much space on their narrow bed. But whatever reason Daxter had, Jak was pretty damn relived about it. The warm solid body of his best friend pressed up against him in bed was just a bit too much for him to handle right now.

But although Daxter may have been happy and content with the sleeping arrangements he sure wasn't as happy about being stuck on Jak's shoulder anymore. So far he had managed to be firm on that point, though he didn't know how long it would last. But there was just no way he would bring Daxter with him any other way. For once the redhead would just have to accept defeat. It was the compromise he could agree to; Dax could come along on the missions, but in return he had to settle with a ride on his shoulder.

He was, after all, enough bothered about the fact that Daxter was more and more often going out alone. Which made his overprotective side kick in, maybe a bit too much, in the redhead's opinion at least. But he knew he should probably have more faith in his friend. He could handle himself pretty well, but he couldn't help but sigh in relief every time Daxter showed up safely again. Haven City was no place to wander around alone in.

--

Jak still wanted him to sit on his shoulder like a good little pet. It might not have bothered Daxter before, but now when he had a choice, he just didn't see the damn point of it. It was stupid. Now that he actually could help Jak, why shouldn't he? Not that he wanted to throw himself head first into danger. But he would never let Jak go alone, so when he was already there why not make himself useful? It might just help the big guy get back in one piece. That was just basic logic. Stupid Jak just didn't see it, he could be so irritably stubborn sometimes.

But otherwise life was great. He was back to human, again.

Damn was that getting old.

And he fully enjoyed his new freedom. He could finally walk the streets without being trampled to death or risk being picked up by Krimzon Guards. All right, that risk was always there, but it had minimized quite a lot since his change of appearance. According to Daxter, life was good, and he sure as hell was going to enjoy it.

The only cloud in his clear blue sky was that saying hello to his old body was like saying hello to hormones.

Very bad hormones, gay hormones.

He had always thought Jak was good looking. Yes, that may have sounded a bit gay. But come on, just by looking at the green-blond elf anyone would agree that it was just a basic fact, like the sky was blue and the grass was green. The hero looked good, and the girls knew it. But you really didn't have to be of the opposite sex to see it. In fact the only one that seemed totally clueless about it was Jak himself. He still didn't seem to have the slightest clue why girls had a habit of clinging on to him. But Jak's good looks had never felt quite so painfully obvious to Daxter as they were now.

'Has Jak gotten sexier over the last couple of years?'

Well, at least something had happened for sure. Things were different, or maybe he just had a too vivid imagination. But just the way Jak touched him felt different.

'And is he doing it more often?'

No, that couldn't be it. He was cuddled all the time when he was an ottsel. The touching wasn't different either; it was just cuddles for human Daxter. A pet on the head, maybe a ruffle of his hair or sometimes a quick hug. But the question was, were you supposed to cuddle your best friend? Well, Tess and Keira could get awfully touchy-feely sometimes. And he didn't really mind because it felt good, maybe a bit too good. It could just be the ottsel in him talking, why stop enjoying a cuddle just because you changed form? Although lately he did feel like he wanted a lot more than just a pat on the head.

TBC

--

_I hope you didn't found this too boring__, but I can promise a lot more action in the next chapter. :)_

_Reviews inspire me, so please take some time to write me your thoughts, it's much appreciated. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Omg, the sexual tension is all over the place! XD This was definitely a fun chapter to write. Those poor boys, oh how I torture them. Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, they made me write so much faster. :)_

_Yes, this is a bit short, and yes there's a reason for the shortness. I have some things coming up in the plot that are definitely going to need a chapter of its own; therefore this chapter became a bit shorter than usual. _

--

Jak was stubborn and Daxter would admit that he was a hard nut to crack, but he also knew that no one could be quite as pervasive as him when he put his mind into it. And he knew just the right tricks to make Jak give in. Daxter usually got his way one way or another; it was just a matter of time. Ok, so he had a slight setback concerning his undertaking to make Jak allow him to tag along in his human form on their missions. The big guy was stubbornly unwavering on that point. But he did get something else for his efforts instead.

Shooting lessons.

After all, a few weeks of nagging should get him the desired result. It had taken him an extensive amount of whining and well planned arguments but finally Jak admitted defeat, probably just to shut him up. Though he did, reluctantly, agree that it might not be such bad idea that Daxter learned some self-defence even if he wasn't overjoyed about putting a gun into his hands.

Haven City wasn't exactly famous for its safety and lovely neighbours. So you gotta be prepared, right? He hadn't really needed the protection before because he always had Jak, and the big guy was better protection than any gun in the world. It just wouldn't do to go out alone before; it wasn't a very good idea when you were about one foot high, and you were the only orange ottsel in town that the Krimzon Guards was looking for.

The Headquarters wasn't exactly a place of many resources but it did have a small shooting range. Nothing fancy of course, just a long narrow area with a few targets standing at the far end along a brick wall. Daxter couldn't help but skip ahead on their way there. Jak leisurely strolled along behind him. Guns kind of scared him, but he couldn't deny that he was excited about using one for the first time.

The gun Jak had picked out for him was just a simple handgun and a bit on the small side in Daxter's opinion. Especially compared to Jak's impressive morph gun. But the hero had insisted that it was just the right size for him, a beginner.

Well, maybe he could get something bigger later.

It was late afternoon when they entered the shooting range, so they had the place to themselves. Which was fine with him, he rather preferred if no one was there to watch him shoot. When Jak handed him the gun Daxter took it with a mix of excitement and anxiousness. He was directed to one of the firing points closest to the target.

"First lesson; the way you stand and grip the gun is just as important as the aim. No one can hold a gun perfectly steady but with a good stance you will have a lot for free already."

Daxter immediately straightened his slouchy position. Jak nodded in approval.

"Stand straight with your feet wide apart so that you feel that you have a steady position."

Daxter hesitantly tried to stand as he was instructed, and jumped slightly when he felt Jak coming up behind him to make directions to his stance. A boot nudged at his ankles to force his leg s bit wider apart.

"Good, now raise your gun."

Daxter tried to remember how he seen Jak hold his gun, then raised his own.

"Your grip should be firm but not too tight." Daxter tightened the slack hold he had on the gun. "A good hold can counteract inaccuracies caused by a bad trigger squeeze. It will also help you avoid the recoil of the gun, and therefore the direction which the bullet leaves the muzzle."

Daxter tried to pay attention to what Jak was saying but it was kind of difficult to ignore the fact that the he was standing awfully close behind him, and practically speaking right into his ear. He felt his face flush when Jak moved in even closer so he could rearrange the gun in his hands.

"Grip the gun as high as possible." Daxter shivered when a hot puff of air hit is ear, and he hardly noticed when Jak placed his grip higher up on the gun.

"That's it, now both elbows should be slightly bent but both wrist must be locked."

'Who knew gun shooting was such a science.'

"Remember to never have your arms raised for too long. If you get tired your hand will waver; it's better to lower your arms to rest, and then take new aim."

Daxter could agree with that, his arms were feeling tired already.

"Alright, let's try a first shot."

He did his best to ignore Jak's close contact for a moment and took aim at the target, a simple black circle painted on a white background. Apparently it wasn't very good because Jak immediately interfered and raised his gun a couple of inches higher.

"Take a couple of deep breaths, then hold it while you squeeze the trigger."

Daxter tried to take two deep breaths, but it turned out more like two desperate gulps of air. How the heck was he supposed to concentrate when Jak was practically standing pressed up against him?

'And is that his crotch saying hello to my ass? His chest feels so warm and firm against my back, and god those arms snaked around me, so muscular and—'

"Fire."

'What? Oh right, we were supposed to practice shooting.'

He clumsily pulled the trigger and completely ruined his aim in the process of it. Even worse was the jolt that sent him backward, right in to Jak's chest.

Hands on his bony shoulders steadied him back into standing position.

"I told you to brace yourself before you shoot, there's always a backfire."

'When did he say that? I really must start paying more attention. Stupid Jak for ruining my concentration.'

"Yeah right, sorry, I forgot."

Jak looked at him doubtfully, and then shook his head with a sigh.

"Right, let's try it again. This time don't push the trigger so hard, it should be a smooth movement to avoid jerking the gun and loosing your aim like you did." He chuckled, then added, "and be prepared for the backfire, you don't want to end up on your ass in the middle of a gunfight."

They kept practicing for about an hour and for awhile Daxter could forget about Jak's close presence and concentrate on the shooting. The fact that he could concentrate better might have something to do with Jak backing off for a moment to let him try a couple of rounds for himself. He was actually starting to feel kind of cool, standing there with a gun in his hand. What he wouldn't he give for a mirror; he was sure he would look cool. But of course Jak was quick with making sure his ego didn't get too big.

"Your stance could be better, and your aim is a bit low."

Daxter could feel Jak coming up behind him again, and he almost yelped when the hero's crotch bumped up against him when he took position.

'Was that intentional? No, of course it wasn't, stop getting ideas you stupid brain!'

His shooting might not have been the best with Jak so close, but he kind of liked the feeling of his hands grazing over his arms and body when he made corrections to his stance or aim. Daxter even caught himself straightening his elbows a bit too much on purpose just to have Jak's hands there to correct it. He couldn't stop himself from shivering.

"Are your arms tired?"

"Eh, no."

"They are shivering."

'Damn Jak, and his observant eyes.'

"Oh, well yeah, maybe they're a bit tired," he lied.

"Perhaps we should quit for today."

Daxter's insides tingled when Jak spoke the last sentences into his ear.

'Was his voice slightly husky?'

"Yeah, ok," he said breathlessly.

He put the safety back in place then lowered the gun and turned around to face Jak. He was about to suggest they go make a visit to the bar so he could show off his new cool gun to Tess, but when seeing the strange look on Jak's face he stopped himself. He cleared his throat.

"Umm, hi."

'Wow that was intelligible of me.'

But Jak didn't seem to have heard him. He just kept looking down at him with that weird expression. He had never seen that look on his friend's face before; it wasn't unpleasant but it sure as hell was unnerving. Daxter could feel a blush starting to form on his cheeks.

'Is he leaning in closer?'

Some part of his mind told him that he should probably move back, say something clever but he just stood there staring back wide eyed.

'Smooth Daxter, real smooth'

When he felt big warm hands land on his hips he jumped startled but he still stood frozen to the spot.

"I—" he started to say, but Jak hushed him with a finger to his lips. Which probably was a good thing, since he had no idea what he was supposed to say in the first place.

The finger left his lips, and instead a warm, slightly callused hand stroked his cheek softly. He felt himself automatically leaning in to the touch, and he closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again, Jak was close, very close.

Daxter could practically feel his hot breath against his mouth. He should do something, he should say something, but he didn't. He let Jak close the last distance between them.

--

The kiss was tentative and insecure at first, their lips just barely touching each other. Jak didn't dare to do much more. And when Daxter started to draw back with an unreadable expression on his face, he began to panic.

'This is a mistake, I'm freaking him out.'

He started to apologize, but to his surprise he was instantly silenced by soft lips against his. At first he was too shocked to do anything, but the lips moving against his were all the more eager. He could hear Daxter's gun falling to the ground with a thump and then there were small hands grabbing a hold of his shoulders and drawing him closer. Jak's heart began to beat faster from the gesture, and he dared to carefully slide a hand into the mass of red hair.

It was crazy to stand there right in the middle of the shooting range kissing your best friend, but he just couldn't find the effort to care, especially not when Daxter seemed just as eager to continue. He knew someone could walk in on them at any moment, but at the same time, had he ever cared what people thought about him? He had always been a freak in the eyes of others. But Daxter's opinion was the only thing that mattered to him, the only thing.

The kiss was pretty clumsy at first, their lips sliding inexperienced against each others. But Jak didn't care, it felt like heaven. It was Daxter, and he was going along with it, that made it all the sweeter.

He cupped the back of Daxter's head to keep him in place, and then silently begged for deeper entrance. His tongue darted out to carefully run along soft lips and Daxter jumped and let out a small squeak at the action. He chuckled at the reaction, but still made sure to keep the kiss going. In any case Daxter got the message and tentatively parted his lips, and Jak took the opportunity to gently explore the depths of his mouth, spurred on by the moan it earned him.

He was slightly shocked when the redhead suddenly squeezed them tighter together and deepened the kiss enthusiastically. He responded with the same eagerness. The kiss would definitely never rank as one of those perfect movie kisses. It was honestly pretty sloppy and a mess of lips and tongues meeting in a clumsy dance.

But it felt good, so damn good.

They couldn't have gone at it for long, but they both were slightly out of breath when they eventually broke apart. They looked at each other in silence. Jak slipped his hands out of the red hair but was still reluctant to let Daxter go so instead he rested them on slim hips. He would have been perfectly happy to stand like that in silence forever, but Daxter wasn't one to keep quiet for too long.

"Umm," Daxter bit his lower lip like he always did when he was nervous, "that was…different."

Daxter removed his hands from his shoulders, and let them hang by his sides instead. Jak missed the contact already.

"Yeah."

Daxter looked down at the hands still resting on his hips. Jak followed his glance and quickly removed them as if he had been burned. Why did it suddenly feel so wrong to touch him when it felt so right just a few moments ago?

When their contact was completely broken, it was as if some of the spell did too. And they both turned into squirming youngsters with flushed faces. When Jak started kissing Daxter he hadn't really planned on what to do or say afterwards. He wasn't even entirely sure why he had done it in the first place, it had just felt right at the moment. But when the awkward tension grew between them, he was starting to seriously regret his actions. Daxter was clearly uncomfortable.

'Have I ruined everything now?'

"Well, I promised Tess to help her out at the bar after we were done here. I do owe her for a couple of drinks from last week." Daxter scraped at the dirt on the ground with the tip of his boot. "So I guess I should get going?" It was more like a question than a statement.

Jak nodded. He didn't trust his voice.

Daxter bent down and fumbled for the gun on the ground, in his haste almost tripping over his own feet but managed to catch himself just in time.

"Heh, oops." He scratched his head and laughed nervously, before he awkwardly shoved the gun into his waistline. "I guess I'll see you later." He tried to smile, but Jak could see through it.

With a last glance at him Daxter was gone.

Jak stood frozen to the spot long after he had left. His brain still had a hard time processing what the heck just happened. One moment he was kissing Daxter, the next moment he was standing alone on a worn down shooting range. The quick exit didn't sit well with him at all. Had Daxter regretted the kiss?

'Is he disgusted with me?'

--

When Daxter didn't return in the following couple of hours Jak felt miserable. When the sun was setting and he still hadn't returned he got worried. He called Tess at the bar but was told she hadn't seen him all day.

He waited.

When it was dark outside and Daxter still hadn't returned, Jak had a very bad feeling in his stomach.

TBC

--

_I guess this is one of those endings that can be qualified as an evil cliffhanger. Heh, sorry but you'__ll just have to deal with. But don't despair, the next chapter is on its way. However I'm starting my job soon, so you might have to be a bit patient with me. _

_I will do my best to force my muse into submission, in the meantime please review! _


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm back again, sorry for the wait, but work is keeping me very busy. Thank you for the reviews, it's always appreciated. :)_

--

He was lost.

It was getting dark, and he was lost in Haven City. That was not a good thing. That really wasn't a good thing at all.

Daxter hadn't gone to the bar. Actually he hadn't planned to go there in the first place. He just needed to get away, to think, and clear his head. The Naughty Ottsel wasn't exactly the right place for that sort of thing, but it had been a good excuse. So instead he had ended up walking the buzzing streets of Haven City. Walking was a good way to clear your head, or at least so he had heard. Daxter wasn't so sure it had actually worked, because he still felt just as confused, if not more.

By now the streets were almost deserted, people knew to stay at home after dark. Daxter knew that too, he just wished he knew were home was. Actually, any kind of familiar place would be a welcome sight right now.

He thought he had seen most parts of the city but the streets he walked now were completely alien to him, and he was seriously starting to regret that he had never paid more attention to their surroundings when riding on Jak's shoulder.

Jak, lets talk about Jak for a moment. The person who had completely occupied his brain the last few hours to the point that he had no idea of where he was at the moment. Which made him end up in strange neighbourhoods far away from the headquarters. His supposed best friend who had kissed him.

And the scariest part about it was that he had liked it, a lot.

How was he supposed to react to that?

Though, it didn't matter right now. He had other things to deal with; it was getting dark and he needed to find his way back to headquarters. He determinedly pushed any thoughts of Jak to the back of his head.

The streets weren't completely empty, but those who still were out weren't exactly anyone Daxter wanted to approach. He did his best to keep his distance from them actually. He had already made a couple of quick detours when spotting Krimzon Guards, you could never be too careful after all. But it wasn't just Krimzon Guards that you would rather avoid making acquaintance with. Just a few minutes ago a group of bulky men that had been staring at him creepily had made him hasten his steps.

Yeah, so maybe you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but the people Daxter had passed by so far made him want to keep a safe distance of at least twenty feet instead of asking for directions. He didn't really see the point of doing it either, it's not like he could ask for the direction of the Underground's secret headquarters anyway. But still, he was getting desperate. If he could just find someone with a friendly face, maybe he could get some information on where the hell he was. But on the other hand, did anyone have a friendly face in Haven City?

So to say that he was becoming a bit anxious was an understatement. His only comfort was the gun he still had tucked down in the waistline of his trousers. A gun he still barely knew how to use. It pushed uncomfortably into the small of his back, but he was glad that it gave him some resemblance of reassurance. He could always scare people off with just the sight of it, he didn't have to actually use it.

But still he wished for about the hundredth time that Jak was there, which was ironic since he was the reason why he had run away in the first place and ended up in this mess. But the more he had walked the less he could see the reason why he fled. What must Jak think? First they kiss, and then the first thing he does is run out of there. Daxter couldn't really explain it himself, he just needed to get away, to think. Damn, Jak was really messin' with his head.

The kiss had been good, really good, not that he had anything to compare with, but still. So wouldn't the logical thing to do have been to stick around, and demand another one?

'But no, instead I have to go and get lost in Haven City. Real good decision, Daxter.'

But in his defence, how was he supposed to act logical in a situation which had no logic? Jak shouldn't be kissing him in the first place! The whole thing was just so confusing, it was no wonder he had to get away for awhile.

Jak was probably pretty worried by now. The big guy could be such a mother hen sometimes, he must be wondering where Daxter was. Well, he was wondering the exact same question. His feet hurt, he was hungry and tired. It was starting to get cold, too. All he wanted was to get back home, get something to eat, and crawl into bed.

He had to be getting closer soon though, he was sure he was walking in the right direction. Well he was pretty sure at least. A few blocks ago he had walked by an old run down shop they visited once, to get Jak a new pair of gloves.

'That had been pretty close to headquarters, right?'

He cursed when he realized that he had once again ended up in another dead end. He hadn't grasped just how many of those there were in Haven City. Probably because Jak knew how to avoid them. This must be his fourth just that night.

He kicked an old can in frustration; it rolled away with an audible crash that echoed loudly in the silent alleyway. It was a long narrow street, and it shut out most of the city lights from the main road so it wasn't much of a surprise when Daxter's boots suddenly ended up in something slimy on the ground that he had failed to notice in the dim light.

"Damnit, that's just what I needed," he muttered while he tried to shake the smelly thing off his boot. He really didn't want to know what it was.

However, he froze when he heard steps behind him. With his foot still raised in the air he started to turn around, but just then a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. With his breath caught in his throat he spun around fully to face the owner of the offending hand.

It was a man, a pretty damn big man too, probably a bit taller than Jak even. However he wasn't as broad over the shoulders—he actually looked a bit underfed, but who wasn't in this city? He couldn't see clearly in the dim light, but his shaggy hair looked dark, maybe dark brown. His narrow eyes looked to be of the same colour, but it was hard to tell. Judging by his clothing he wasn't a Krimzon Guard at least, that was a relief. But Daxter knew that it wasn't just Krimzon Guards you should look out for in Haven City. And the man didn't exactly have what he would call a reassuring look; first of all he was touching him, why was he touching him?! Second of all he was ogling him with a somewhat creepy look. He got nervous just by looking at those eyes. The smile, if it could classify as one, directed at him wasn't exactly very comforting either. And his breath, good God, he could kill someone with that breath. It was like something had crawled up in his mouth and died. Daxter gagged when the stranger breathed a puff of hot air into his face. There was the distinct smell of alcohol tinged in it, too.

"Whoa, ever heard of personal space, man?!" he said when he was able to catch a breath through the fumes.

He ripped himself free from the loose grip on his shoulder. He didn't know what the man was after, but he sure as hell wasn't about to stick around and find out. He was probably some drunkard who was trying to find some money for his next drink. And not doing a very good job at it, either.

But Daxter only got about two steps before he was snatched back by a grip on his jacket. He felt himself slamming into the guy's chest and a strong arm wrapped around his waist. At first he was too shocked to do anything, but when he felt a sloppy kiss being placed on the side of his neck he was anything but idle. He kicked and squirmed in earnest to get free from the unwelcome embrace he suddenly found himself in. He also made sure to scream bloody murder.

"What the hell! Let go of me, you slobbering idiot!"

His demand didn't exactly have the desired effect, and to his dismay he could feel the arm tightening around him. To make the whole thing worse, the man kept nuzzling his neck like he was some damn pet he could cuddle.

"Come on, don't be like that, stay," a coarse voice murmured into his ear, and he could feel the hand placed on his hip softly kneading it.

If that was supposed to qualify as something that would calm him down then the guy would be sadly disappointed.

"I'm not staying anywhere with you, so get off me right now, you freak!"

He wasn't scared, yet, probably because it was kind of hard to find the time to register fear when you're fully occupied with screaming and kicking. That was one of the little quirks he got going. People might think he never shut up because he liked the sound of his own voice. Okay, so maybe that wasn't an entirely wrong assumption, but there were other good qualities to talking. Talking is a good distraction; you don't have time to be afraid if you're to busy talking. So Daxter made sure to practice it to its full potential, and managed to come up with quite the creative list of names for his attacker.

As it turned out the man certainly didn't require any positive encouragement to continue his pawing, because seconds later he was slammed against the brick wall. And he managed to just in time catch himself from heading face first and smash his nose into the hard surface. He glanced over his shoulder and in the dim light he could make out the hard and determined look in the man's eyes as he grabbed him harshly by the hips.

Daxter felt his insides grow cold; he was now officially scared.

This wasn't some drunken idiot. Well, technically he was still drunk and an idiot, but he wasn't drunk enough for Daxter to be able to push him away, and more important, he was determined.

This wasn't his first time in a dangerous situation, but there was one big difference; Jak was always there with him. He would always be safe. This time he was on his own. Because, let's face it, the few people who might walk by wouldn't give a shit about what happened to him. This mess he had to get out of himself.

He yelped when he felt the man lean in closer and efficiently cover him. He spastically ran his fingernails over the hard brick wall, and made a failed attempt at taking a calming breath. But when the body behind him kept pressing even closer Daxter panicked. Forcefully he was crushed against the wall and slowly his breath was pressed out of his lungs. Alarmed, he tried to draw a couple of ragged breaths into his starved lungs.

'Is he planning to kill me?'

He surely would if he kept crushing him against the unrelenting wall for much longer. But at least someone got enough air, because he could hear the man breathe heavily and grunt into his ear when humping against him a few times.

When he almost was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded, the man finally backed off slightly. Daxter greedily sucked in a couple deep breaths of air. The polluted air of Haven City had probably never felt so refreshing. But his relief was short lived. Because soon after his new favourite leather jacket was ripped off him, and he heard it land with a thump somewhere in the dirty alley.

He started to protest and struggle anew, but froze when his head was jerked back painfully by a grip on his hair. Somebody had obviously lost his patience.

"Do that again, and I'll make you wish you hadn't," was hissed into his ear.

After that it was like his attacker was a man on a mission. And everything happened fast, too fast. His head was slammed back again and Daxter could feel his chin scrape against the rough wall. If he had any doubt that the man meant business before, he had absolutely no doubt now. He wouldn't care if Daxter went along willingly or not, it would just be a bit more convenient if he did. However, it's not like he would have a qualm in forcing him.

'This is not happening, this is just not happening. This is nightmare, I will wake up soon, and Jak will be there.'

But he wouldn't be there, so he sure as hell would have to come up with a better plan than that. So he did the next best thing. While the man was busy pawing over him, Daxter made an attempt to change into his ottsel form. The only problem was that he had never made the change under pressure, and especially not while a drunk man was touching him in places he really shouldn't.

Despite that he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the busy hands, but that was certainly easier said than done. He bit his lip in frustration. He just couldn't bring himself to relax as much as the change demanded. And just how the heck was he supposed to relax with his soon to be rapist right behind him? It was impossible to shut out the wandering hands under his t-shirt even for a few seconds. His attacker probably interpreted his sudden motionlessness for compliance, because he made sure to make very good use of it.

'Where's your happy place when you need it?'

Still, he nearly had it under control for a moment, and Daxter almost thought he would succeed. But then a hand was suddenly palming his ass through his pants, and was working its way to the front, into his pants. That successfully broke his concentration like a cold shower. He quickly directed his effort at swatting away the unwelcome hand. When the hand retreated he breathed a sigh of relief over the small, though temporary, victory.

After that he gave up any attempt of changing. He wasn't even sure how much better the situation would become by turning into ottsel. He would be even more defenceless. Although, if he managed to get away it would probably be easier to hide somewhere, and you couldn't rape an ottsel, right? You could definitely kill one, though. Not a very pleasant thought.

When he suddenly was turned around and slammed against the wall once again any thoughts of clever escapes fled his mind. "Gentle" clearly wasn't a part of this man's vocabulary. He felt rough fingers grab his t-shirt. At first they tried to manoeuvre it over his head, but when that proved too much of an effort they settled for ripping it in one quick motion. Daxter gasped when the cold night air hit his bare chest. Now even more eager to get away, he tried to wriggle out of the grasp but was restrained with a heavy arm over his neck. He felt sick when a hard bulge was pressed against his thigh.

'No, no, no.'

He started to shiver, if it was from the cold he wasn't sure, but his whole body shook violently. The man grunted and pressed closer to him, like his shivering was in some way distracting him in his quest of touching every damn part of him. His hands were everywhere, on his hips, his ass, his chest. Groping and pinching, making Daxter want to scream. But he didn't, because he planned to live just a little bit longer.

"You're so hot, I'll bet you're tight," the man spoke huskily into his ear, and gave his ass a painful grope.

If he was supposed to be flattered it wasn't exactly working. And, to Daxter's humiliation, he heard a sob escaping him. He could feel wet, hot tears on his cheeks.

'When did I start crying?'

A sound of distress left his throat when the man decided to join his busy hands with his mouth. Not just for kisses, but also small bites that were placed all over his chest. Daxter yelped and tried to jerk away when he suddenly felt teeth bit down hard on one of nipples. He pushed urgently at the man's shoulders, but with little effect. He was sure his poor abused nipple must be bleeding from the harsh treatment. He sighed when the man finally let go of his acing nub, but frowned when he instead searched out his mouth for a kiss.

Oh no, there was just no way he was going to allow that.

Disregarding the man's earlier threats he started to thrash in earnest. His hands were quickly restrained, but to his satisfaction he got a knee right up in the man's crotch. His assaulter doubled over with a pained sound, but not before gripping him with a bruising grip by the throat. Daxter choked and clawed at the hand, but the grip was firm.

'Oh my god, I'm going to die.'

Maybe fighting back hadn't been such a good idea after all.

He didn't have much breath to spare to begin with, and black spots were quickly appearing in front of his vision. The man must have recovered again because he could feel himself getting pressed against the wall once more. He grimaced when he felt something hard sticking painfully right into the small of his back. He was confused at first, his sluggish, air deprived brain worked slowly to figure out what the strange object could be. That's when it suddenly occurred to him; it must be his gun that was still tucked into his waistband.

'Why hadn't I thought of that earlier?'

Getting his body to obey was an effort, but with a last boost of energy he managed to reach for the gun. His fingers brushed over the handle before he griped it, and with effort managed to get it out of his waistband. His heavy eyelids where beginning to slip shut when he removed the safety, but he still held onto the gun like a dog to his bone.

Which was fortunate, because it was probably the only reason why he managed to still keep his grip when pain suddenly exploded in the left side of his face. Sweet air returned to his lungs, but instead he felt dizzy from the hard blow to his face. It seemed like the man wasn't planning to kill him just yet. That's good to know.

His chin was grabbed and he met the man's furious eyes. He really hated those eyes already. He was mad now, really mad. Daxter was feeling more and more grateful for the gun in his hand every passing second. He looked like he wanted to murder him, which he probably would when he was done with him. Well, a knee in the crotch had never helped to improve one's mood.

"You'll regret that," he promised in a deadly tone.

Daxter didn't doubt that for one minute. And he should have been terrified, but the gun in his hand reassured him. He had a way out, and he was going to take it.

He raised his gun.

The man looked a bit confused at first when he spotted the gun in his hand, but soon after he was laughing. Not really the reaction Daxter was going for.

"What's this, are you going to shoot me?"

Daxter ignored the mocking tone.

"Get the hell away from me," he said with a slightly wavering voice even though he made an effort to keep it steady. His voice was still a bit hoarse from the harsh treatment to his throat.

He knew he probably looked pathetic, like a kid playing with a grown up's toys. He was shivering, dirty, and wet tracks of tears were on his face. Not a very scary sight indeed. All Jak's instruction on the proper ways to use a gun had fled his mind. He just gripped it steadily with both hands and kept one finger ready on the trigger like it was his only life line in the world. Which it most likely was, because there was no chance he was getting out of there alive by his own, sadly lacking, strength.

When the man smiled down at him, and made no effort to move back, Daxter pressed himself even further back against the wall. This really wasn't the reaction he had been anticipating. Why didn't he back away like he should? That was a normal reaction, right? If someone points a gun at you, you give up and back away.

"Just go away," he said hoarsely, and it was more of a plea than a command.

The man snorted, and barely gave the gun in his hand a second glance, like it was nothing to worry about.

He closed in on him.

Daxter fearfully raised the gun even higher, his fists were probably turning white by the tight hold he had on it. If he could have melted into the wall he certainly would.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Come now, put that thing away and— "

When the man reached for him, Daxter jumped, startled.

The shot echo loudly through the deserted alleyway.

The man looked at him, surprise registered on his face, and for the first time that night he looked anything but confident when he stared backed at the wide-eyed Daxter. But just moments later the man fell face down to the ground by his feet. He was still.

'Oh my God.'

Daxter stood frozen to the spot, transfixed by the dark pool that was slowly spreading from under the lifeless body. He stood like that probably for a few minutes, just staring, waiting for some life sign, but nothing happened. He carefully pushed at the man with his boot, but got no response. He pushed again, a bit harder this time, nothing. His shivers were getting worse and he had a problem with still keeping a steady grip on the gun he still held in his hand.

The gun, he didn't want it anymore.

With a sob he finally let it fall to ground. The loud sound when it hit the ground made him wince. His fingers were still acing after the impossibly tight grip he'd had on the handle. Slowly he started to back away from the unreal scene before him. He just wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and forget this ever happened.

His body was aching all over; he touched his cheek lightly and grimaced. He would probably have quite a shiner by tomorrow. But it could have been worse, so much worse. He felt cold in the harsh night wind, and started to search for his jacket. He found it a few feet away and quickly put it on. It was a bit dirty and smelly but it felt heavenly against his cold skin. He didn't bother with his t-shirt that was lying in rags on the ground.

He still needed to find his way back, to Jak. He just wanted to see Jak again.

How he found his way back to Headquarters, he wasn't entirely sure. He was in a daze most of the time, and he hardly remembered anything from the walk itself. He just remembered feeling cold and empty, a surreal feeling surrounding him. But his heavy feet led him well, and sometime during the night he finally ended up in familiar territory. He was lucky nobody else seemed to care about the lost gangly teenager wandering the streets, since he had little attention on the world around him.

His head was a mess.

He had shot a man, probably killed him. He wasn't entirely sure, he hadn't dared to look closer. But with all that blood, he must be dead. He hadn't even meant to shoot him, he just wanted him to go away, to stop touching him. Why couldn't he just have left him alone?

TBC

--

_Go Daxter for defending himself! I hope you'll not hate me for being so mean to poor Daxter, but I think he'll be alright, he has Jak after all. ;) _

_The story is actual coming to an end soon. I still have at least a couple of chapters left so don't worry, but I'm wrapping it up soon. Though, there's no need to despair because there's a big chance I'm doing a sequel. :)__ I will probably have some mature stuff in the next chapter so I guess I will only have censured version here, though if you're 18 or more you can read the whole thing on my AFF account. _

_Now make me a happy writer and leave a little review for me to read. _


	9. Chapter 9

_I can't tell you how sorry I'm for the looong wait but I've been working the whole summer so I have had very little time to write. I'm still working actually, and will continue to so at least until spring but I hope to have a little more free time when starting my new job in September, but I'm not sure yet. A big thank you to my reviewers and my beta __that made sure to remind me that there were still many of you that were waiting for the next chapter. _

_And don't be mad at Jak for being a little aggressive in this chapter, he was just so worried about Daxter, the poor thing. _

--

Jak was practically wearing a hole into the floor with his constant pacing. He was undecided. Should he go out looking for Daxter or wait for him? He would be out the door in an instant if he just knew where to look, but since he had no clue it seemed neither wise nor very productive to try and search for Daxter in the dark streets of Haven City. He could basically be anywhere, and it was quite an area to cover. And if he was in his ottsel form it would be even harder, even almost impossible to find him.

Especially if he didn't want to be found.

Jak didn't like the thought of that one bit. But if Daxter wanted some time alone then he shouldn't disturb him, right? He would most likely return soon by himself anyway, he probably wasn't even very far away. He had let his imagination run wild and was worrying over nothing. Daxter had probably accidently fallen asleep curled up in a corner somewhere. It wouldn't have been the first time, either. Daxter was a master of being able to fall asleep just about everywhere. He had found the ottsel in the most interesting sleeping places over the years. Like the time last year when he had frantically searched the whole damn Headquarters for the little orange fuzzy thing just to finally find him curled up in the laundry basket.

So why couldn't he stop picturing Daxter lying injured or dead in some dark alley?

Jak sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh and forced himself to calm down. 'Everything is fine, he will be home soon.'

Daxter was safe somewhere, he just didn't want to see Jak right now, that was all. Not a very reassuring thought, but it was a lot better than the other scenarios that had been going through his painfully imaginative mind.

For the hundredth time that night he wished that he hadn't kissed the little redhead. Not because the kiss itself had been bad, it had been surreal but wonderful. But if this was the price to pay it would have been better to keep things as they were, then none of this would have happened. He wouldn't have freaked Daxter out and they would be in bed sleeping right now. Everything would be as it should be. Maybe not exactly as he wanted it, but he could live with that, just as long as Daxter was by his side he was alright. Jak buried his face in his hands; this was such a mess.

His ears perked up when he suddenly heard soft footsteps outside the door. He looked up warily, not wanting to get his hopes up, it wasn't the first time that night he heard someone walking through the corridor without result. The hallways of the Headquarters could be quite busy during the nights too.

But to his surprise and great relief he heard keys rattle in the lock. He was on his feet in a heartbeat and by the door in a second. It opened slowly, and when a mop of red hair peeked out from behind it, Jak let go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. But his relief was short-lived, and quickly turned to anger. Didn't he understand how worried Jak had been? He pulled in a startled Daxter by the arm and closed the door with more force than he had intended, a loud bang erupted in the hallways.

"Where the hell have you been?!" He leaned over the redhead who had backed up against the wall. He tried catching his eyes, but Daxter quickly averted his gaze down to the floor.

He wasn't quite sure were all this anger came from, but although Daxter was flinching at his harsh words he couldn't stop himself.

"Oh, just out walking…" was the quiet reply.

Frustrated by the vague answer, Jak grabbed him by both arms and shook him.

"Dammit Daxter, you could have been killed! How could you even think of such a stupid idea? Alone, at night, and in Haven City of all places!"

"I don't know!"

Jak was surprised when Daxter suddenly, violently tore himself free from his grip and backed away a couple of steps. He quirked his head to the side in confusion; Daxter was acting strangely.

"I was confused, I just wanted to be alone for awhile, to think." It didn't sound like Daxter one bit, there something desperate and haunting in his voice. He didn't like hearing that; Daxter should never sound like that.

'I'm acting like a brute. I need to calm down, I'm scaring him.'

"I know, I'm sorry Dax… But alone in Haven City at night, you know it's dangerous."

The redhead had put some distance between them and was now standing in the middle of the room hugging himself, his hands gripping his arms tightly. He still refused to meet Jak's eyes, and stubbornly looked down at the floor.

"I got lost," he spoke quietly.

Jak was stunned when a violent sob suddenly shook Daxter's small frame.

More gently now, he cautiously approached him and with two finger under the Daxter's chin tilted the trembling elf's head so he could get a view of his face. That's when he truly took in Daxter's appearance.

He was a mess.

His face was pale, more so than usual, and there were dirty streaks running along his cheeks. His eyes were red and puffy, had he been crying? What alarmed him even more was the red swelling forming on his left cheek and pale miscolouring on his throat. When he glanced down he also noticed the missing t-shirt under his dirty jacket and small red markings on his bare chest.

He was starting to regret the firm grip he just recently had on those thin shaking arms.

"Come." He led the shivering Daxter to the bed, and made him sit down.

"What happened?" he implored much more gently, to avoid frightening him any further. He was ashamed that his earlier action had upset the already distressed Daxter even more. He carefully placed a comforting hand on the quivering shoulders.

"I—" he choked on the sentence, and pressed himself closer against Jak's side. "I shot someone."

"What?" Jak hand that had been soothingly rubbed the redhead's back froze.

Suddenly Daxter was clinging to him, sobbing loudly into his chest. "I shot him."

Jak was both a bit confused and alarmed, but wrapped his arms around the crying elf, and tried to soothe him by awkwardly patting his shaking back. He did still have the gun when he left the shooting range, but shooting someone? Had he met up with the Krimzon Guards?

"Sshh, calm down, tell me what happened. Are you hurt?"

Daxter pushed his head deeper into his chest like he couldn't get close enough. "I didn't mean to, it just happened," his voice muffled by Jak's shirt.

"I know you didn't, now tell me what happened," he repeated once again, trying to keep his voice steady and calm even thought he felt anything but.

"I was lost. I tried to find my way back, but then this asshole showed up and grabbed me. He wouldn't let go of me." He could feel Daxter's grip on his t-shirt tighten. "I just wanted him to leave me alone. I didn't mean to shoot him, but then he scared me and the gun went off."

He was silent for moment, and Jak could hear him breathe deeply into his chest like he was working up the courage to continue.

"There was so much blood, I think I killed him," Daxter added with a wavering voice.

It wasn't a very detailed version but probably the only one he would get of the distressed elf at the moment. He could read between the lines anyway, and by looking at the state Daxter was in Jak had a pretty good clue of what happened. He really felt like he wanted to tear something apart, but instead he took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm, for Daxter's sake.

"It's alright." He stroked the red and golden hair softly. "He was going to hurt you, right?"

"Yeah."

"It was just self-defence Daxter, you did the right thing. You had to defend yourself in any way possible."

He sniffled. "I guess."

"Where's the gun now?"

"It's still in the alley, sorry, I just sort of dropped it."

"It doesn't matter, don't worry about it."

He could feel the redhead relax against him. His shirt was now a wet mess at the front were Daxter had drenched it with tears. He let the moment of silence grow between them before he continued.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked softly.

It needed to be asked. Of course he had hurt him, his friend was crying mess, and just by looking at Daxter's face and miscoloured throat he knew the answer to that. But he needed to know how much, how bad? Did Daxter manage to stop him in time?

"Nah, but he got a pretty good right hook." He touched his swelling left cheek gingerly. "I kneed him in the crotch though." A small but still noticeable smile played on Daxter lips.

It was good to see, Jak gave a smile of his own.

"Good for you," he gave the golden-red hair a good ruffle.

Then his face grew serious again and his hand slipped down to gently trace the line of swelling with two fingers, a frown of concern marred his features.

"Go take a shower, I'll get you something cold for it."

It would be alright, they would get through this.

"And food, I'm starving!" Daxter yelled on his way out.

--

Clean and with a comfortably filled stomach Daxter felt a bit better. He was sitting on their bed leaning back against the headboard with an ice filled towel pressed against his aching cheek. He was tired, so damn tired, he let his head fall back against the headboard and closed his eyes.

He had been such a mess before.

His head was still in an uproar but it felt better now; he was home, with Jak, and that made all the difference in the world. And it did help him look at what happened in a new perspective. Yes, he had killed a man. But it was a man who had had every intention of raping and probably killing him if he hadn't done something. No, he hadn't wanted to kill him, but maybe it wasn't so bad how it turned out after all. If the gun hadn't went off who knows what could have happened. He wasn't sure he would have had the guts to pull the trigger and the man sure didn't seem very scared of it. What's the use of a gun if you can't pull the trigger and the one you're pointing it at isn't scared of it? The thought of what could have happened if the gun hadn't gone off was starting to give him some serious nasty mental images.

The bed dipped down beside him and a warm body pressed up against him, it was a welcome interruption.

"Feeling better?"

"Mhm, much better."

'If I could just get my brain to stop taking a trip along the "all this sort of shit could have happened to you-road".'

"You should rest."

"Uh-huh, I will," he answered but made no effort to get under the covers. It was just too much effort.

A sigh filled the silence of the room and suddenly hands took away the ice pack and were pushing him down in a laying position. The covers were pulled up to his chin. He felt fingers gently combing through his hair. An unruly tress was stroked out of his face and the hand settled for a moment on his forehand. It felt nice. Jak was warm, Jak was safe. He could forget about tonight for awhile.

The nasty images faded from his mind, and he could feel his thoughts getting cloudier and his body getting heavy.

"Sleep."

It was a good idea, so sleep he did. All through the night to the early morning hours when he was jerked awake by livid nightmares. Comforting warm hands gently pushed him down under the covers and he was pulled against a firm chest. Even though his human nose was dull in comparison to his sharp ottsel senses he could still smell the familiar sent of Jak. He clutched the worn-out t-shirt the big guy always wore to bed as he soaked it with tears. The wet tracks on his cheeks were gently wiped away by a calloused thumb. His rigid body grew soft, and his breathing evened out.

The soft voice of Jak and the touch of a hand stroking through his hair lulled him back to blissfully dreamless sleep again.

It was light outside the next time he woke. Daxter wasn't sure what had woken him but the wonderful smell of food could definitely have something to do with. His stomach growled loudly to confirm it. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up gingerly. He winced when the sudden movement reminded him of last night's mistreatment. The left side of face felt swollen and his body ached.

"Hungry?"

He turned around and saw Jak standing by the stove and stirring in a saucepan.

'Jak can cook?'

He must have caught Daxter's look of disbelief, because he continued.

"You slept through dinner, I'm warming some leftovers I managed to get hold of from the kitchen."

"Oh."

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess." He really did feel much better after getting some well-needed rest. But he couldn't believe he slept for so long! He had a vague memory of waking up; yes, it had been from a nightmare. He had been crying but he had been lulled back to sleep by gentle hands that made him feel safe again. His cheeks turned a bit red at the thought. He was such a cry-baby, but he guessed he had a good reason after all. And Jak didn't seem to mind, hopefully.

He probably should be feeling a bit guiltier than he did, he had killed a person, but now in the light of day he could easier see it in Jak's point of view. The man had attacked him, and he defended himself. There was nothing else he could have done. He was going to do horrible things to him. Daxter shivered at the unpleasant images that assaulted him. Luckily he was jerked from his gloomy thought by the voice of Jak.

"Dinner will be ready soon, get dressed."

Sitting at their gangly table in an oversized sweatshirt he nervously played with a fringe on the hem. It wasn't his shirt actually, that's why it was so big on him. He could have taken one of his own, but spotting it on the laundry basket he grabbed it and slipped it on. It still smelled of Jak, it was nice. He occasionally looked up at the big guy, not sure what to do or say, yesterday was kind of hard to sum up in words. And they hadn't really talked yet, about anything… So he stayed where he was, watching the hero silently while he prepared a plate for him.

Jak came over, took the seat opposite to him, and placed a plate of some sort of fish stew in front of him. Not his favourite. But he was hungry and beggars couldn't be choosers. He grabbed the fork and started to shove it in. For awhile all that was heard was his enthusiastic chewing.

"Why did you leave?" Jak suddenly asked softly. His face was expressionless, but Daxter could sense the insecurity.

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

'Not a good answer, really not a good answer. Where is my wonderful vocabulary when I need it?'

"If you want we can just forget it happened. I won't do it again, I promise."

Daxter was surprised to see the slightly haunted look in his friend's eyes. He put down the fork on the table.

"Well, I think it could be kind of nice if it did."

He did, he really did.

But Jak was already on his feet, "It was wrong of me and—" Jak froze in midsentence, and turned to look at him with a disbelieving expression. "What?"

He stood up and rounded the table. "I wouldn't mind if you did it again."

"You want me to kiss you?" he asked sceptically, and when seeing Daxter coming closer he backed up a couple of steps, very much looking like a wild animal trapped in a corner, looking for escape.

It was kind of cute, Daxter thought. It wasn't often anyone got a chance of seeing Jak being insecure. He was probably the only one.

"Yeah." He tried to keep the smile from his face.

Jak frowned. "Are you sure?"

'Aww, always so fretful, big guy. Well, I just got to give you some help on the way.'

"Jak, this would be the time for you to shut up and kiss me."

At least it seemed like he could take a hint because suddenly Jak was coming closer instead of backing away. He reached out and gently but still a bit unsure cupped his cheek. Daxter leaned into the touch. He smiled slightly, biting his lip.

"This would be your cue, big guy."

It still felt a bit awkward at first when Jak pressed his lips against his but it was definitely a good feeling. Were his sleeping pants maybe starting to get a little crowded? Deciding that dinner table and making out was a bad combination, he started to back towards the bed while Jak followed like an obedient puppy, making sure their lips didn't lose contact for longer than a second.

Daxter found Jak's eyes straying towards the unfinished dish on the table but continued to drag him along.

"Forget it, I'm not that hungry." He panted out, a bit surprised over his own neediness.

When he felt the mattress hit the back of his knees he obediently sat down and Jak joined him. He pushed himself higher up on the bed to make room for Jak, who hovered over him. Daxter welcomed him by wrapping his arm around his neck.

"Ok?"

Oh damn, was that hesitation he spotted in Jak's eyes? Really not the time Jak, really not the god damn time.

"Yeah, definitely baby," he answered reassuringly and before Jak got another chance to talk or hesitate he pulled him down for another kiss, their lips colliding almost brutally this time, but that didn't matter. He felt Jak trying to pull away and determinately tightened the grip he had around his neck and sucked enthusiastically on the hero's tongue.

Too bad Jak was stronger than him.

With a gentle but firm push he managed to separate them again.

'Damn.'

"Wait. Isn't this too soon?" Daxter was pleased to see that Jak was at least was looking a little flustered. "You're hurt, you should be resting."

'Concerned, always so concerned.' Daxter smiled, and placed a slender finger against Jak's lips.

"Jak, really, I'm fine, please just be quiet for a moment."

Slower this time, their lips met, and finally Jak complied. It was kind of hard getting in the mood when the other party wasn't actively participating. But Jak sure could kiss when he wanted to, Daxter thought, dazed. Not that he had anything to compare to, but still, he knew mind-blowing when he experienced it. It would still definitely take some practice for them both, but the kiss lacked the clumsiness from before. He was quite sure that they were looking pretty damn hot right now, where's a mirror when you need one?

Not able to contain himself any longer he let a long-fingered hand snake in under Jak's t-shirt and caress a hard abdomen that shivered under his inquisitive hand. He felt pleased with himself when Jak moaned into their kiss when he pinched one of his nipples playfully.

He was confused when Jak suddenly drew back, worried that maybe he gone too far after all. But then he spotted the mischievous expression on his friends. He knew that look well. It was after getting that look he usually found himself dunked under the water in Sandover, or maybe tackled to the ground and tickled mercilessly.

Well, he sure hoped Jak wasn't planning to do that now.

Fortunately he didn't, instead he attacked him with his mouth and Daxter was suddenly the one moaning and squirming when Jak started to lick and nip his way down his throat. Occasionally he stopped to gently blow soothingly at Daxter's abused skin, which made him shiver. He grabbed a hold of blond-green locks, not sure if he wanted to push Jak away or pull him closer. When his collarbone suddenly was sucked fiercely his grip on the hair tightened. Jak grunted.

"Sorry."

He loosened the hold and decided to dig his fingers into the hero's shirt instead. He felt hot and flushed, and he welcomed Jak's probing hands when they started to remove his oversized sweatshirt. Jak's own shirt soon joined it in a pile on the floor by the bed.

TBC

_--_

_So here comes the tricky part for you guys here on FF, it's probably going to get a bit smutty now so I will definitely not be able to post the whole next chapter here. I haven't decided if I will just cut out the mature stuff from the original chapter or write a censored version just for FF. I'll work something out somehow so don't be worried. But if you do want to read the original chapter it will be available on AFF once it's finished so if you're of the right age you can just have a look at it there. _

_I will try to write faster this time, until then please review! _


	10. Chapter 10

_Is anybody still reading this story? I understand if some of you have abandoned me, but thank you to those who are still patiently waiting. I know I'm late, sorry, but I did my best to hurry up. On the whole I'm not __overly pleased with this chapter; it feels like I could have done a better job. Thank you to all of those who reviewed the last chapter, it's much appreciated!_

---

Some of the shyness returned to them when they found themselves half naked in bed together.

"Are you sure about this?" Jak inquired.

'No, but I'm sure as hell wasn't going to stop now.'

"Yeah, go on." Even though he tried to, Daxter couldn't keep his voice from wavering slightly.

Of course Jak noticed it, there was nothing you could keep from the big guy.

"Dax?"

"I'm fine, just a little nervous, that's all. Now, go on."

Jak still looked a little unsure, like he was wondering if he truly was allowed to touch him. Daxter laughed.

"I'm not going to break, Jak."

He reached up and grabbed the hero's broad shoulders to pull him closer. He let his index finger trace a line down the firm abdomen, just stopping short at the waistband. Jak closed his eyes and hummed appreciatively.

Daxter grinned. 'Oh yeah, that's the stuff.'

Of course he had seen Jak's naked chest before but he never really had the opportunity to truly stare at it like now, and not to mention touching it, not in this manner at least. Jak seemed just at amazed at getting a chance to paw at his best friend and was carefully exploring his body with big callused hands in the most endearing way. Daxter bit his lips when he reached his ticklish sides, not wanting to destroy the mood by bursting out laughing. Jak reminded him of a timid animal that too easily could be scared away with any sudden sounds and movements.

Eventually they both grew bolder, and Daxter clung to Jak when their lips met in heated kisses followed by more groping. Jak was mostly quiet, as usual, besides a few moans and groans. Daxter was of course the total opposite, even if Jak was making it a bit hard to save enough breath to speak.

"I could definitely get used to this," he managed to pant between kisses.

His pyjama pants had grown uncomfortably tight and he pressed himself up against Jak, seeking some sort of friction for the aching between his legs. Jak obliged and met him with a push of his own hips, making them both moan at the harsh contact.

"Ehm, so how do we do this?" he asked breathlessly.

It took awhile for Jak to process the question before he drew back and looked at him, perplexed.

"Do this...?" he wondered, unsure with red tinted cheeks.

Daxter was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one seeming a bit flushed.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "You know…"

'Oh God, don't make me say it.'

"I mean, do you know what to do?"

Well, at least he wasn't the only one feeling embarrassed anymore. Jak's cheeks had turned blazing red, and he was stuttering. Cute, Daxter thought with a small smirk.

"Well, uh kind of. There was this article that I read…" he trailed off with a grimace.

Daxter was surprised at this, but also amused.

"So what kind of magazines have you been reading?" he wondered with a smirk.

If Daxter had thought that Jak's cheeks couldn't get any redder, the hero certainly proved him wrong.

"It wasn't mine! Some guys left it at the headquarters, I just happened to find it." Jak said defensively.

"Yeah, sure thing Jak. I didn't know you read that kind of stuff—"

"I'm not!" Jak was now looking highly uncomfortable. "Can we just not talk about it, ok?"

Deciding that now might not be the best time to tease his buddy, since the hand that had been so expertly caressing him before had stopped, he reassured Jak.

"I'm just messin' with you big guy, but you should have seen the look on your face just now."

Daxter laughed, then he wriggled his hips impishly.

"Come on, I'm still waiting, show me your stuff."

With regained confidence Jak growled and attacked.

Daxter squealed when his hips were grabbed and he was pushed higher up on the bed, a position that situated Jak's face right over his crotch. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek when feeling hot breath hit his twitching cock through the thin fabric of his trousers.

"What are you doing down there, big guy?" he stuttered, squirming uncomfortably.

Jak didn't answer but he felt an unmistakably hot wetness that couldn't be anything else but Jak's tongue licking and sucking its way along his waistband. His little buddy between his legs jumped with anticipation.

'Damn, does that have a life of its own.'

When Jak drew back for a moment, that's when Daxter noticed.

Their positions.

"Hey, who said you could be on top?" he questioned with a pout.

Jak gave him a cheeky grin. "I didn't ask."

Feeling rather comfortable on the bed and with what Jak was doing, he decided to let it slid.

Just this time.

"Well, just don't get used to it, big guy."

'That's right, don't think Daxter the man will roll over every time, just this once I can be lenient.'

Jak chuckled. Daxter huffed and aimed a kick at him. But having someone's mouth close to your crotch wasn't exactly doing wonders for your aim and all he managed to hit was a pillow that fell to the floor with a thump.

Jak ignored his antics and continued his tongue's exploration of his body. His breath hitched when the hero slowly started to pull down his trousers together with his underwear.

'Very efficient Jak.'

All thoughts at aiming a second kick suddenly seemed very far away. Their eyes met and he met the silent question with a nod. When he felt the last article of clothing being divested he closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. He heard a rustle of clothes and opened his eyes again, in time to see Jak kicking of his own trousers and boxers.

They stared at each other.

He squirmed under Jak's scrutinizing gaze, feeling self-conscious when it hit him that he was lying completely naked before his best friend. He knew he was scrawny and pale with a minimum amount of muscles on his bone frame. He was nothing like Jak, who was nothing less than perfect. His body toned by muscle of just the right size, and his skin tanned golden brown by the sun. A variety of scars decorated his body but it did nothing to mar his appearance. There was just another part of Jak. His own smooth skin made him feel like a sheltered puppy.

Jak must have seen some of his trepidation, because suddenly he was leaning over him and placed a light kiss on his nose. The hero's hair fell down into his face and he giggled when it tickled his nose. He gazed up in the dark blue eyes that were situated right above his.

"You're beautiful, Daxter."

He licked his lips nervously. 'What do I say to a thing like that?' He didn't know, so instead he leaned up to meet those full lips in a kiss.

"You're beautiful, you're beautiful," Jak softly repeated into the kiss. Then with a lingering touch to his cheek he drew back.

Daxter looked on with curiosity when he placed himself between his open legs.

"What are ya doing hot-stuff?"

Jak grinned, lowered his head and captured Daxter's lips in a teasing kiss.

"You'll see."

When Jak's groin suddenly ground down in to his, he moaned appreciatively.

That was nice.

He grabbed a hold of Jak's shoulder to encourage him to continue. Which thankfully he did. It started out at a slow pace but soon they both grew more frantic. Daxter dug his nails into the hero's shoulders, breathing heavily as he clung to Jak desperately. He knew he was making little needy sounds in his throat, which could have been quite embarrassing if he would have been in the right mind to care.

He needed more, of what he didn't know, but at the moment he was practically humping against Jak's groin, thigh, anything he could get a hold of. He just couldn't get enough friction. He looked at Jak questioningly when he suddenly with a grunt stopped and slumped down beside him on the bed.

"Jak?"

"Sssch."

---

_Sorry to all my fanfiction reader__s, I will make a small gap here to avoid the mature stuff. If you are of age and want to read the complete chapter, please go to my aff account. You can find the link in my profile._

----

Jak turned to face him again and pulled him close to his chest while drawing the sheet over them. Daxter snuggled closer to the warmth. They probably should have a shower, but not now.

"You ok?" Jak mumbled into his ear.

"Uh huh, better than ok. Did you learn that from a magazine?"

"Not really, I kind of improvised."

"Good going."

Jak snorted, "Glad you approve."

"Mhmm."

Daxter could feel his eyelids getting heavy. The warmth surrounding his boneless body, and the sound of Jak's heartbeat against his ear was making him sleepy. Jak's finger brushed against his cheek.

"Sleep," was whispered barely audibly into his ear.

And sleep he did.

Daxter dreamt, of a time in Sandover long ago. It had been a hot day and they had gone swimming in the ocean, Jak had dunked him under the water more times than he could count. He wanted his revenge, so on their way back to shore Daxter had decided that a surprise tackle from behind was in order.

Unfortunately it had gone as it usually did. Jak had somehow ended up with the upper hand, and he had landed with a thud in the sand. The only difference was that this time he had actually managed to bring Jak down with him. Daxter had laughed, pleased with himself, when he had managed to regain his breath again, but had soon fallen silent when he became aware of that Jak wasn't joining his laughter. He had frowned when noticing the green-blond boy looking down on him with an unreadable expression. There had been something strange and different about it, and Daxter had felt somewhat unnerved. He grew very still under his friend, and had done nothing more than to stare wide eyed when Jak had leaned in closer. Their faces just inches from each other. Some strange instinct, that Daxter still couldn't explain, had made him arch up and their lips had lightly brushed against one another.

Then a moment later he was sputtering and coughing when a wave of cold water hit his face and invaded his nose and mouth. With a chuckle Jak had pulled him to his feet to help him escape the suddenly high waves and patted his back until he could breathe freely again.

The moment had been lost.

Two days later they had gone to Misty Island, and everything had changed. They never talked about it again.

The memory had been pushed to the back of his mind, and Daxter had almost forgotten about it. The chaos that followed afterwards hadn't really left much time to ponder more over it. He smiled to himself, he was glad at being reminded of it. Maybe it would have turned out differently if they had stayed in Sandover, and he remained a human. But he couldn't complain about his current situation; it may have taken awhile but now here they were. And yesterday had been, wow, just wow. Definitely a bit surreal, but so damn good.

Or was it the same day still, Daxter wasn't sure, it seemed to still be some light, was it only just evening or was it morning? He just couldn't make the effort to care. Daxter glanced over at Jak were he lay sleeping beside him. His chest slowly lifting in heavy breaths. He smiled at the serene picture it presented. He was probably the only one that knew how soft and vulnerable Jak could look at times. In sleep there were nothing hard about his features, they were soft, relaxed and the little frown on his forehead was smoothed out to nothing. He looked like a big cuddly teddy bear.

His teddy bear.

Come to think about it, cuddling seemed like a pretty good idea at the moment. He scooted closer but stopped and winced at the sudden movement. He was still a bit sore and stiff. Not so much from the lovemaking, but from before… Daxter frowned at the unwanted images that assaulted him.

'No, I'm not going to think about that now,' he decided firmly.

A bit more cautious this time he wiggled his way to Jak and carefully snuggled closer to the sleeping hero. He giggled softly when Jak's hot breath hit his face. He burrowed his head deeper into his pillow. It still felt a bit strange to cuddle your best friend, especially when being naked, but just thinking about their lovemaking made him realize that it might not be so strange after all. This was pretty mild stuff when comparing. Come to think about it, they snuggled together quite a lot when he was an ottsel, it just didn't seemed so strange then.

At least Jak didn't seem to mind at all. He grunted when Daxter pushed up against him, but not long after a heavy hand landed to rest lightly on his waist. It felt hot, but comfortable against his skin.

He felt safe.

---

Jak blinked blearily when he felt someone press up against him. At first confusion hit him until he got a face full of golden-red locks.

Daxter.

His hand slid down to rest on that incredibly slim waist. He really should get Daxter to eat more. He looked down to meet sleepy blue eyes peeking up at him among from the sheets Daxter lay snuggled in.

"Good morning."

He moved to brush away a golden lock of hair but his hand froze at the sight that greeted him. He brushed his finger lightly against the swollen and slightly miscoloured cheek. Daxter frowned then pushed the hand away, and shook his head.

"Don't. It's not your fault, so don't give me those puppy eyes. You can't take the blame for everything, Jak."

"I can't help but think I should have been there."

"Well, you weren't, and that's ok. Now get over it."

Daxter looked like he was trying to give him a stern look, but in his sleepy state it turned out more like a pout.

'Adorable.'

"Ok, but next time you're thinking about going out alone at night, don't."

Daxter grumbled. Jak wasn't sure if he should take it as a yes or a no, but it was the only answer he was graced with since Daxter had already buried himself under the sheets again with a muttered 'go to sleep'.

Not long after he heard a light snoring coming from under the covers.

Getting up on his elbows he glanced at the clock, it was morning.

He sank down in the bed again; deciding that any missions Torn might have for him could wait until later. With a small smile on his face he decided to join Daxter in reverie.

Life was good.

TBC

---

_The story is coming to an end soon, but you can at least expect and epilogue before I'm done with this baby. __:) Please review! _


	11. Epilogue

_I'm glad some loyal readers __still stick with me, thank you for your reviews! So here finally is the ending, I hope you have had fun reading this. I'm very grateful to any reader who have taken the time to review this story at any time, and I want to say a huge thank you to my beta Robin who has been such a big help!_

_---_

_Three months later_

The ottsel dragged Jak into the small storage room with a firm grip on the cloth of his trousers. Or, more correctly, he was letting himself be dragged. Daxter could hardly move him in his human form and he certainly wasn't able to in his current state. But even though he was tired after the mission the hero patiently put up with the small tugs, and let himself be steered in the direction the ottsel wanted.

"Come on, come on, hurry up, Jak!"

He wasn't entirely sure how he ended up in this current position, but it had been something about Daxter being horny and it was too long a way back to their apartment. Apparently the Headquarters would do, or more correctly the small storeroom in the Headquarters. He wasn't too sure he agreed with that.

They had their own apartment now. Which at times like these apparently was situated too far away from the Headquarters, according to Daxter. Jak didn't mind, it was only ten minutes away if you took a zoomer, but the ottsel never was one to be patient. Though he might complain about it being situated too far from the core of Haven City, Jak knew Daxter loved their apartment just as much as he.

Their own place, they should have gotten it sooner.

But with just one man and an ottsel they had been satisfied with the room at the Headquarters, it had been cheap and close to both the bar and of course the Headquarters itself. The apartment wasn't actually that much bigger than the room they had before, but it was theirs and it offered some sort of privacy.

Jak was thankful for that, Daxter could be a bit loud.

There were still not a lot of people who knew about them, and Jak would rather keep it that way. Not that he was ashamed, but they certainly didn't need more attention as it was. Most people still weren't aware that the redhead by his side was actually the loud-mouthed ottsel that on occasion inhabited his shoulder. The less who knew the better, Daxter was safer that way.

But of course they couldn't keep it from the whole world, Daxter would've never allowed it. Tess had, as predicted, squealed with joy and tried her best to hug them both at the same time. Torn had caught them making out in one of the Headquarter corridors. Which Jak had tried to explain was a bad idea, but Daxter had been insistent, very insistent. Though even Daxter had the decency to look slightly embarrassed when discovering they had company. Torn however, had only raised an eyebrow indifferently, though Jak thought he caught an amused spark in his eyes. Then the ex Krimzon Guard had just walked past them, with a warning to Jak not to be late for their next briefing. The only one that had at least acted a little bit shocked had been Keira. But she seemed to get over it pretty quickly, when a new shiny vehicle rolled into the garage that required her attention. When they left she still hadn't taken her eyes from it.

"Daxter!" Jak hissed when a particularly harsh tug made him stumble on a couple of glass jars on the floor that he had failed to notice in the dim light. One of them fell to the floor with an audible crash, which made him wince.

He wasn't so sure this whole storage room adventure Daxter had planned was such a good idea. He did his best to watch where he was stepping as he was dragged to the back of the room but the poor lighting coming from a naked light bulb wasn't it making it easy.

"We can't do it here, someone will hear us."

"Not if we're really quiet." With a flash of light that lightened the room for a brief second the ottsel at his feet transformed into a pale naked redhead who immediately started to cling to him. Lips were playing against the side of his throat and he could feel nimble fingers at the waistline of his trousers. Jak discovered that to so suddenly have a warm, naked and luxuriously soft body pressed against him made it all very hard to think rationally. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea, at least he had locked the door, so if they were just quiet…

"Daxter, you're never quiet," he murmured into a long ear

Daxter drew back a little and Jak could see a small pout was forming.

"I can be quiet, if I want to."

Jak raised an eyebrow.

Daxter huffed. "Well, then you just have to figure out a way to keep me quiet, now won't you, hot-stuff?"

Jak let himself be pushed against the back wall.

He grinned. "I guess so."

Daxter made fast work at getting off his tunic but instead of throwing it on the floor together with his already discarded red scarf, Daxter drew it over his own head.

Jak gave him a questioning look.

"What? I'm cold."

Jak drew him closer and started to rub the thin arms to get some warmth into the cold limbs. Daxter seemed to almost melt into the warmth for a moment, but then he drew back and was all business again.

"Mmm, nice. Now get on with it."

"Do you have any?"

"In your backpack."

Not bothering to ask when exactly Daxter had smuggled something like that into his backpack, Jak fished up a small tube of lube from the bottom of his pack. At the meantime Daxter was studying their surroundings with critical eyes.

"Not on the floor, too cold, the wall works fine."

"Alright," Jak complied and changed their position. With a grip on Daxter's hips, he steered him so he now had him pinned against the wall instead.

There had been lot of touching and kissing between them the last three months, but they had only gone "all the way" about a month ago so Jak still felt a bit clumsy and unsure about the whole thing. Though, he did enjoy it, very much.

The first time hadn't gone entirely smooth. Daxter had agreed to let Jak lead, trusting him to manage everything. He had done his best to prepare him and be careful. Still, when Jak had entered the little redhead any erection he might have had before entering had shrunken away in the horror of hearing Daxter wailing loudly. He was sure he had done something seriously wrong and done some irreplaceable damage to his lover.

It turned out Daxter was just loud.

It had hurt and he had been a bit overwhelmed but he was not near death, as Jak had feared. In the end it was up to Daxter to coax and convince him to try it again, since he had not been much in the mood for a second attempt.

But Daxter had a way of getting what he wanted. He soon had got him aching hard again and willing to give it another shoot. It had gone somewhat better; Daxter had bit his lip hard and only uttered a muffled groan when he slowly pushed in for the second time. The redhead had solemnly sworn to him that it didn't hurt so badly anymore. But Jak had made sure to keep a close eye on his face to spot any discomfort. He could see Daxter wasn't being entirely truthful but he hadn't looked to be in unbearable pain at least. It did get better though, actually it was good for Jak from the start; he just hadn't been in the right mind to enjoy it as long as Daxter was crying out in pain. But as soon as Daxter had some time to adjust and Jak found just the right angle they both had been clinging to each other in need.

Now when they both had their share of practice he could enjoy lovemaking more thoroughly without being as nervous as before, but he still felt a small fear that he would screw up somehow and hurt Daxter.

A tap on his forehead made him wince and come back to the present.

"Hello, anyone in there? Please pay attention to the sexy beast in front of you."

Daxter was tapping his foot impatiently.

With a small prayer that no one would hear them, he made Daxter straddle him and pushed him up against the wall. He slicked his fingers and prepared him with care. It wasn't an easy task. At the same time as he was holding up his precious burden, Jak tried to focus on making careful work of the preparation. At the meantime Daxter was making it hard for him to concentrate by kissing and licking his way along his throat and jaw. He grunted when Jak added a second finger and a harsh blow of warm air hit his ear and made his aching length even harder in its confines.

Luckily a small hand snaked down and started to make its way into his trousers to free it from its prison. He jumped when the cold hand grabbed it, making it shrink a little at the sudden change of temperature but it soon jumped to attention again as the hand grew bolder and warmer.

When he deemed the preparations were sufficient enough, he reluctantly swatted the hand away. He took himself in hand and slicked it with a couple of quick strokes. He was just as excited as Daxter now, who was urging him on with little needy sounds like he was afraid he would stop.

"You're ready?" he inquired as he pushed up slightly against the entrance.

"Yesss," Daxter hissed and pushed down his hips, but Jak drew back.

"Be quiet," Jak reminded him, as he wasn't sure Daxter still remembered that they weren't actually in their own apartment but in a storeroom at the Headquarters.

"Will you just get on with!" Daxter snapped.

With that he pushed up and at the same time captured any sound Daxter might have uttered in a deep kiss. He wasn't planning a long and slow lovemaking, so he started out with heavy thrusts that had Daxter rocking against the wall. He thought he heard some noises of people in the background, but they still were too far away for him to care about.

Daxter did do a pretty good job at silencing his usually vocal lovemaking, but as they grew more frantic so did Daxter's voice. He captured the redhead's mouth in another kiss before he gently pushed his face into the crook of his neck to muffle the sounds.

"Bite my shoulder," he instructed, and he could feel blunt teeth tentatively bit down in the muscle between his neck and shoulder. He shivered when a warm wet tongue darted out to taste his skin.

_-_

_Just making sure this is not getting t__oo mature so I had to remove the conclusion of their lovemaking. It's only a small part that I took away, but if you want to read the whole thing then go to my AFF page, you can find the link in my profile. _

-

"That was a good one, definitely a good one," Daxter murmured.

Jak drew out with a content hum of agreement. He embraced the limp body and took a moment to enjoy the afterglow.

"But couldn't we just have done it at home?"

"Aww, but what's the thrill in that?"

When the sweat of their body was beginning to cool down they both felt little shivers run down their spines in the cold storage room. Daxter was trying to snuggle even closer, like he was making effort to crawl into his chest.

"Let's go home, before it gets dark," Jak suggested.

"I'm tired."

"Then change so I can carry you."

Daxter had over the months got better and better at controlling his transformation and suddenly, Jak was holding in his arms his tunic and from under it a sleepy ottsel was poking out. He put the small bundle down on a box nearby before he pulled up his trousers, which had landed in a pool on the floor around his feet. He tried to clean himself up the best he could before he grabbed his tunic. The ottsel whined miserably when he stole his warmth away. He picked up his red scarf from the floor and dusted it off before he tied it like a sling over his right shoulder and creating a red cocoon for the ottsel over his chest. He picked up Daxter and placed him in it. It was a good way of transporting the ottsel when he was too lazy to hang onto his shoulders and he needed both hands to steer the zoomer.

Jak made his way out of the storeroom and hopped on their waiting vehicle. The snoozing ottsel felt warm and nice were he was securely pressed against his chest. The wonderful feeling of afterglow still lingered and made him feel weary but content. He looked forward to getting home to their apartment and the warm bed waiting for them.

"Let's go home," he murmured to his dozing passenger and steered out into the busy streets of Haven City.

The End

---

_That's it, I hope you enjoyed the story, I had fun writing it. :) I would love to hear your thoughts about it so please review.__ I'm sick so I could need something nice to read to cheer me up. I'm not sure what I will be writing next, but a sequel to this is not impossible or at least something J&D related._


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